Dancing in the Dark
by RudexAndxNotxGinger
Summary: In a dystopian world set in the not-too-far future, Alpha and Doctor Hannibal Lecter is struggling to survive his entrapment in the increasingly toxic New York City. He realizes just how much he's taken for granted, however, when he comes across a dying Omega. Hannibal tries even harder than ever to fight the system and escape. If not for himself, for Will, his true love.
1. Toxic

Dark, foreboding silence filled the old, unused subway tunnels; an utter silence broken only by the echo of my footsteps snicking along the concrete platform. I took this route as a sort of private shortcut from one end of Fifth Avenue to the other. Most nights I enjoyed the silence; a break from the bustle of the city. And tonight was no exception.

Occasionally the smells and sounds of the overpopulated city overwhelmed me. As an unmated Alpha, I was especially sensitive to everyone's scent; Alphas, Betas, and Omegas alike. There were times that I felt I could _taste_ the stench wafting off of the crowds of people. But after forty years of near solitude I grew callous to it at times; the conglomeration of smells became something I had to grow used to, as with the ever-growing smog and toxins of the city.

I rarely ever went outside for more than a few minutes without carrying an emergency mask; something that could protect me from the common toxins if I were to find myself in a patch of smog. We called them poison patches; little clouds of heavy chemicals amassing in random locations throughout the city and eventually dispersed by the breeze, if there was any.

We had our own little atmosphere now, thousands of feet lower than the ozone layer, and were now surrounded by a greenhouse of chemical particles and smoke. The sun was almost an urban legend at this point and poisonous rain a near constant at night.

Despite the dismal surroundings, I still managed to lead a decent life. I lived in my own apartment, which was a rare commodity in itself. I was very fortunate to have the education and profession I did, before everything went to hell. The psychiatry field had a dire need, what with the oppressive living conditions in the city. I lived in a middle class building; one that I earned by working sixty hours a week, providing psychiatric help under the supervision and direction of law enforcement; an adaptation of the long-gone FBI, now entitled "Bureau of Criminal Affairs." It was a living, though not much of one; but I muddled through.

And speaking of muddling, I felt a sudden sharp sting to my olfactory senses and I instinctively reached for my emergency mask. The masks only had so many hours of use in them before they were rendered useless, so I only used them when I absolutely had to; I was only given six masks a year by the BCA; a generous amount, all things considered.

I snapped the elastic band around my head, securing the cotton-poly mask quickly. I squinted, making as little room as I could for any toxins to affect my eyes. I scrabbled around in my other coat pocket for my goggles. But when my hand withdrew from my coat pocket, I realized that the goggles slipped out of my grip and were making a speedy trajectory through the air. The moment unfolded in slow motion as I made a clumsy attempt to catch them. But they hit the pavement, skittering far past my limited field of vision.

There were only a few dim lights illuminating the leaky, old subway tunnel, and I stooped down towards the ground, hoping to find the goggles quickly before the chemicals overwhelmed me.

But my eyes began to sting and water profusely, and I stumbled. Before I realized what happened, I was airborne. I'd fallen to my left, where the steep platform ledge dropped off into pitch blackness.

My body thudded against the duty ground abruptly, knocking the wind out of me for a moment. I realized I'd landed right next to a pair of railway tracks. It was doubtful that they were still live after all these years, but I was not about to test it.

I carefully got up, catching my breath but at the same time trying not to breathe too deeply, keeping the toxins in mind. My mask seemed to do a decent job of protecting me, but I didn't want to take any chances. Anhydrous ammonia, one of the many toxins floating around the city, was lethal when breathed in; it made your lungs secret fluid and you would drown internally within two minutes.

I didn't care to find out which specific poison was currently surrounding me, but I always operated under the assumption that it could kill me.

" _Hhhhhhhnnnn…Hnnnnn…_ "

My heart skipped a beat as I realized I was not alone. I heard a high pitch whine; a keen, like an animal in distress. The sound was close; extremely close. I knelt down again, and felt around in the dirt blindly. My eyes had to remain closed, lest the insurgent chemical blind me. Almost instantly my right hand met with wet, sticky, cold flesh. Reflexes made my hand jolt away, but I returned my hand cautiously, bringing it a little further upwards. I was met with hair; long, wet locks that felt human.

I heard another whimper, and what sounded like a sob.

"Are you alright?" I asked through my mask, muffled, but hopefully intelligible.

I got no response, except I felt the head of hair move in my hand, almost as if it was seeking comfort from my touch.

As if some sort of divine intervention occurred, I felt a gust of air hit my face from down the tunnel; the chemicals would disperse very shortly. I got closer to the small form, still keeping my eyes screwed shut tightly. I felt around with both hands, using touch to decipher what I was dealing with here.

The wet, sticky flesh was unmoving, and it seemed to be either sitting on, or a part of the small human with the wet, long hair.

Another keen and a pitiful whine pierced the air and a realization suddenly struck me: this was an Omega.

I opened my eyes carefully, letting my eyeballs get a full dose of the gusting breeze before looking down to the dark lump on the ground.

I rifled into my pants pocket for a small flashlight. I used it even more rarely than my mask, since it was nearly impossible to get replacement batteries.

The small yellow light illuminated very little, but it was enough. I gasped upon taking in just what lay before me: a young male omega was laying nearly naked in the dirt. And, perhaps even more sickeningly heartbreaking, in his arms lay two pups; baby humans. They were not moving; nearly stiff, and felt stone cold. They were still covered in sticky viscera; bloody, and umbilical cords still attached. My stomach turned at the fact that this poor boy gave birth in an abandoned subway tunnel, either to stillborn pups, or pups that didn't survive the sudden bombardment of toxins.

The male omega was breathing, but just barely. As a man immersed daily in the medical field, I knew to look for the placenta, to see if it had birthed yet. I used the tiny light beam to follow the pulseless, blue cords back towards the Omega's exposed birthing canal.

I realized with a sick lurch in my gut that the cords were still connected inside the poor boy; the placenta had not yet delivered. It was a grave sign, and I knew he needed emergency medical attention straight away. I had very little tools on me at the moment, so I knew I had to make do with what I had.

A regretful knot tied in my stomach as I took my pocket knife out and cut the cords close to the deceased pups' bodies and tied the ends tightly, preventing blood from escaping the placenta; the last thing I needed was for my patient to bleed out before getting him to safety.

I respectfully placed the dead pups on the ground, covering them in the Omega's bloody, ripped trousers.

I then wrapped my arms under the boy's neck and knees, lifting him with ease as I stood to my feet. He couldn't have weighed any more than fifty kilos. The poor child was naked from the waist down, but I didn't have any time to worry about his modesty; if I didn't get him to a doctor soon, he was going to die.

"Hold on, little Omega. I will take care of you. Just stay with me." I instinctively placed a kiss on his cold, clammy forehead as a protective Alpha bond was already forming with this poor, distressed little boy.

I carefully got up onto the platform and felt my knees creak while getting up from the cold concrete.

I rushed to the exit stairs that led to the street level. As soon as I emerged from the stairwell I immediately was met with the wall of noise the city brought.

 **...XoXoXo...**

No one looked our way; most were bustling quickly; trying their best to get from one place to another safely; hoping and praying not to fall victim to a toxic cloud.

I rushed to the nearest phone booth, a nearly unused commodity due to the expense. I swiped my government issued pay-card and speedily dialed the number of a good friend of mine; a nurse who could find me a bed in a hospital, ideally. I shoved the mask up to my forehead using my shoulder so I could continue cradling the young boy in my arms while I held the receiver against my face with my other shoulder.

"Bedelia; I am in urgent need of your assistance. I've found a young Omega who had a stillbirth and the placenta is stuck inside. He is in shock and his vitals are very bad. He is just barely breathing. I need you to get me a spot in the emergency room."

"There is no way I can pull strings like that, Hannibal. You know the rules. I will lose my job if I play favorites and put your Omega ahead of all the other high class patients. I have Alphas and Betas with actual _money_ sitting in line waiting to see the doctors here."

My mind rushed to think of a compromise. "This is of absolute importance Bedelia… Can you… make some excuse to leave and bring me some equipment? IV Saline, surgical tools and sterile gauze. Please, Bedelia, I will owe you one."

"Yes you will…. I'll… Meet you at your apartment in ten minutes."

I simply dropped the phone, not caring to hang it up and hurried back out into the noisy street, carrying my dying patient.

"Almost there, my sweet. Please stay with me. Keep breathing; whatever you do, please keep breathing."

I thought I maybe heard a little whimper, but it was hard to tell from the rest of the city noises. Industrial chimneys hissed with steam, and armored government vehicles rumbled down the streets, parting the crowds like the Red Sea. In other words, it was just another day in paradise.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

My apartment building was only a few blocks away, and I managed to make it there unhindered by any more toxic clouds or any mindless Alphas who might like to challenge me for the naked Omega in my arms. It made sense that none did, however, because at this point even a brainless Alpha could tell that this poor boy was about to expire; he would not exactly make a desirable mate.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

The moment I entered my apartment, I rushed my patient to the bedroom. I amazingly remembered to keep my door cracked open to let Bedelia enter once she arrived.

The little male Omega looked pale as a ghost, even _after_ I turned all my lights on so I could get a good look at him.

"Oh my poor child… what happened to you?" I whispered without even realizing I said it aloud.

The Omega was all skin and bones, save for the little pouch of extra skin hanging off his abdomen, the place where his pups had grown inside his womb. He had light stretch marks along his stomach and mysterious scars all over his body. I removed his tattered shirt, using my pocket knife, mostly so I could inspect him for any wounds, but also so I could watch his chest rise and fall to ensure he was still breathing for me.

"Little one, please stay with me. I need you to keep breathing." I rubbed his sternum roughly with my knuckles, stimulating him enough to get him breathing.

"There you go. Just keep breathing… That's it…" I petted his wet, matted, long locks as I watched his chest rise and fall. I tilted his chin upwards, making it easier for him to breathe and listened to the uneven gasps he made every few seconds.

 **...XoXoXo...**

I heard the front door creak open and a muffled, "Hannibal?" come from the other room.

"In here." I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized Bedelia had arrived.

"Hannibal I-" Bedelia's voice cut off abruptly when she saw the patient laying on the bed.

"Oh fuck." She said before snapping into action. She tossed a duffle bag onto the bed and all but ripped it open. She retrieved a prepared bag of saline and put it together lightning fast. She handed a rubber tourniquet to me while she put together the rest of the tubing and prepared a needle. I did my best to tie the tourniquet around the Omega's scrawny arm, hoping I was doing it right.

Bedelia unsheathed the needle and immediately slipped it under the pale flesh, searching for the flash of blood in the catheter; a sign that she'd found a vein. She struggled for some time, digging around under the flesh until finally she made a victorious hum and secured the plastic catheter to the arm with some tape.

"Alright, Hannibal, I need you to squeeze this bag as hard as you can without popping it. He needs fluids fast."

She placed the saline bag into my hand and I obeyed immediately, squeezing hard, applying even pressure as to not pop the bag.

Bedelia's fingers were feeling for a carotid pulse, and the expression on her face did not look promising.

"Hannibal… Where the hell did you find him?" She whispered morosely.

"In a subway tunnel. He'd given birth to two pups; both were dead. I'd run into a poison patch down there, so I'm not sure if the pups were stillborn or not."

"Alright well… He can go septic if I don't get the placenta out, so while I hate to do a surgical procedure on a patient so unstable, I feel I have to."

"What else can I do to help?"

"Nothing. Just… stimulate him if he stops breathing and keep squeezing that bag. I've got more where that came from, so when it empties, hook up another one right away."

I nodded in confirmation, and Bedelia set to work again. She applied elbow-length rubber gloves and took out a speculum from her duffle bag.

A whine came from the little sliver of a boy as the nurse opened him up with the speculum and inspected his insides with a flashlight.

"Damn, the placenta is still behind the cervix; it must not have detached from his uterus in time and it might have clotted in there. If he thrashes, Hannibal, I need you to keep him still. I don't think he has the strength to fight, but what I'm about to do will be extremely painful for him."

"Don't' you… have something you can give him? Fentanyl? Morphine?"

"No, I can steal as much gauze as I want, but if so much as a drop of narcotics leaves the hospital I could be put in jail; or worse."

And with that, she inserted a pair of long forceps into the Omega's passage, carefully watching her movements with a flashlight.

A sharp hiss escaped the boy's mouth and he clenched his jaw tightly. I almost didn't notice the empty saline bag, but once I did, I immediately grabbed another on from the duffle bag and hooked it up to the tubing.

Bedelia was intensely concentrated on her procedure; I watched as she bit her lip while she worked.

Another whine escaped the omega, and I noticed that a bit of color was starting to fill his cheeks; a very good sign. I felt his neck for a pulse, and was reassured when I felt a fast rhythm bounding away; it was much faster than normal, but it was strong, and at the moment that was the most important.

"His pulse is getting stronger. The fluids are doing him good." I said, feeling hopeful.

"Good. Now… Hannibal, I need you to put that saline bag somewhere so I can have you hold him down. I'll be pulling the placenta out soon and it's going to force his cervix to open wider, which will be extremely painful for him seeing as he just gave birth. So I need you to not be shy about putting some of your weight on him to hold him still, got it? Messing up this procedure would be worse than any damage you would do by putting weight on him. Okay?"

I nodded in understanding, realizing just what she was asking me to do. The tiny, frail Omega looked like he might get crushed under my weight, but I did as I was told. I held on his bent legs with my hands, gripping him firmly.

"Alright in three, two, one…"

I watched Bedelia pull the forceps out in a smooth, sure motion, and I felt the patient tense and try to struggle under my strong grip. He was utterly trembling; he was in so much pain. The placenta finally delivered and was set onto a white papery sheet Bedelia must have brought.

The placenta was covered in massive globs of coagulated blood, and the look on Bedelia's face indicated that it was not a good sign.

"God… Hannibal… That thing's been inside him to long, his uterus needs to be scraped to get all the clots; otherwise, he could die."

"Can we… do that here?"

Bedelia bobbled her head from side to side while she contemplated my bold question.

"Yes…? I suppose we could try it without sedation. It will be difficult and very painful, but it will be safe enough to do outside a hospital."

"Good."

"I have a portable suction unit back at the hospital. I can go get it; I'll also see if I can find the right scraping tool as well."

She leaned forward and checked his pulses, in his neck and wrist, and watched him breathe for a few seconds.

"He will be stable enough until I get back. Just watch him closely."

"Thank you, Bedelia. I will."

 **...XoXoXo...**

I didn't let my eyes leave the Omega's scrawny, unconscious form as I awaited the nurse's return. The boy couldn't have been any older than seventeen, and that was being optimistic. He was likely much, much younger. My heart hurt at the idea of a poor young, unclaimed Omega being left to give birth all on his own; and in such deplorable conditions as well.

And yes, I'd checked him over for a claiming bite already. I found none. Call me possessive if you like, but I felt a little relieved to find out that this boy was not claimed. Not that I was necessarily interested in pursuing this boy. The main reason for my elation was that I wouldn't have to worry about an angry Alpha knocking down my door. Alphas could be such brutes.

"Nnnnghhhh…" I saw the little boy writhe on the bed and it looked like he might open his eyes.

"Shhhh… Sweet one, stay calm. You are alright. You're safe."

"Noooo…. Nggghhhh..." His eyes were scrunched tight, like he was afraid of the light. I quickly dimmed the lamps next to the bed, hoping it would help.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I saw the little boy open his eyes. His cerulean blue eyes were bloodshot and tired looking, but also pained and worried.

"Can you tell me your name, sweet one?" I asked reverently, quietly as to not startle or intimidate him.

"W-w-w Where are my pups? W-where did you take them?" He stuttered, seemingly out of fear and pain.

"Shhhh… Do not strain yourself, my child. You are being taken care of. You are in my home. You're safe."

I ran a strong, sure hand through his wet, oily hair and then gripped the back of his neck in attempt to soothe him. It was a dirty Alpha trick; to grip or bite one of an Omega's many pressure points to get them to relax; to submit. But I wasn't looking for submission. I just wanted the poor boy to stay calm. The last thing I wanted was for him to find out what had happened to his deceased offspring; not now, anyway. That could wait.

"Mmmmh…." He hummed softly as I massaged the pressure point insistently, causing him to melt into the mattress, almost as though he was falling asleep.

"Just rest, little Omega. We can talk in the morning. Right now you need to rest."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Bedelia returned in short order with a small, battery operated suction unit and a long plastic wand that had an odd looking loop at the end of it.

"Alright, now, I was able to just barely smuggle this stuff out. I need to return it in an hour or I'm in deep shit."

"Okay. What can I do?"

"Well for starters you need to grab his legs again."

I obeyed, trying to keep in mind that even though the boy seemed to have lost tension in his body significantly, that may change very quickly, depending on just how painful this procedure was.

"Alright, now this wand is going in through the small opening in the cervix, and this loop here is going to scrape the sides of the uterus to try and slough off all the coagulated blood. The suction will then be used to retrieve the coagulated blood so he doesn't throw a clot. Now I've got to be really careful, or else I'll just end up damaging his uterus and then we'll have a whole other world of shit to deal with, okay? So make sure he holds perfectly still."

I nodded and managed to keep my usual calm composure as I repositioned myself perpendicularly overtop the Omega's torso, gripping his bent legs firmly.

Bedelia began without warning this time, just going right in with the wand and carefully working it around. I focused mainly on the struggling, whimpering Omega, and was not really sure what the nurse was doing, but I knew she was taking the utmost care to not hurt him.

"Shhh…. Calm down, little one." I tried to sound soothing, but it came out as more of a grunt as the surprisingly strong boy bucked against my diaphragm.

"Almost done. Using suction now." Bedelia switched on the suction unit and it sprung to life with a startlingly loud thrum. The sick sounds of coagulated blood being suctioned through a straw-like tube filled my ears and I almost felt sick to my stomach. The smell of the placenta on the towel was also getting to me; I could already smell it rotting; dying, and incubating trillions of microbes.

I felt a wave of nausea hit me and I had to resist my gag reflex by clenching my jaw tightly.

"There… That should be enough." Bedelia switched off the suction and the sudden silence felt almost wrong; empty.

I looked at the clear canister on the suction equipment and I felt a sick fascination, looking at all the gelatinous blood that had nearly filled the large container.

"God, Hannibal, he's lost about four pints just from the suction procedure alone. It's a wonder he's still alive, considering his size, and the fact he'd just gone through childbirth."

I felt a little happiness and perhaps some pride swell in my chest at the thought of this feisty little Omega surviving the most awful of circumstances.

"He's a fighter. I know he will pull through."

"I have no doubt." Bedelia said as she began to clean up the massive mess we'd made in all our hurry.

"He's going to need lots of care; a warm bath tomorrow, some antibiotics, and probably an anti-flea treatment and delousing, judging by the scabs on his skin."

I looked at the scabbing rash in the boy's sensitive regions; under his arms, behind his ears, and between his thighs. They were a sign of fleas, but luckily it wasn't mange.

"I can get those things tomorrow at the pharmacy."

"If you need some money I-"

"No it's quite alright, Bedelia. You've already helped me - _him_ \- more than I possibly could have asked for. You've saved his life…. Besides, I've saved up some money, I can handle it."

"But Hannibal, you need that money to-"

"It's fine. Leave it be, alright? It is _my_ money, I can spend it how I wish." I knew I was being a little short with her, but at the time I felt it was excusable; we'd both been through quite the ordeal in the past two hours.

"Okay… Just… call me again if you need help, or if he gets worse. Keep an eye out for a high fever. A little one will be normal, but if he's burning up he'll need more antibiotics."

"Understood. Thank you, I think I can handle it from here."

We said our goodbyes, and when she left, I felt relieved. Bedelia may have been a Beta, but her presence was making me feel more and more defensive for my little Omega with every passing moment. If she had stayed much longer I was afraid of what may have transpired; I would have surely said something royally rude and harsh, at the least, and perhaps laid a finger on her at worst.

The IV bag was empty again, and I replaced it with the last of the saline the nurse left behind. I covered up the naked, filthy Omega with my clean sheets and blankets, and I tucked him in tightly, hoping to help him retain some body heat. He had experienced a great deal of shock, and his body needed warmth.

I got all the spare blankets from my closet and piled them on top of him, creating a perfectly insulated cocoon for him to sleep under.

Once I'd undressed, I slid under the blankets with him, bringing my warm body to rest against his ice cold one.

"Hnnnn… Hhhnn…" He whimpered softly, obviously feeling comforted by my Alpha scent and touch. I knew that he was filthy; likely riddled with lice and perhaps worms; but I didn't care.

I finally had someone to look after other than myself, and it was the most perfect feeling in the world.


	2. Clean

In the early hours of the morning, I reluctantly got up from the bed and used the communal landline in the hallway to call my superiors at work. I told them that I was violently ill and had to take a couple of days off of work. I had a few excusable days saved up over the years. Most people could get fired for calling in sick, seeing as the illnesses running rampant through the overpopulated city often resulted in permanent disability, and were extremely contagious long after the symptoms were gone. But I felt confident that my superiors needed me enough that they would allow me some time off.

My suspicions were correct. I told them a good story about getting possible food poisoning, and that I was just about bed ridden, and was potentially contagious for influenza. The bigger the lie, the more believable it was, apparently.

As soon as I'd finished lying through my teeth to my boss, I went back into my apartment to check on my patient; my Omega.

He was still fast asleep; looking peaceful and angelic. His skin was still pale, but that was just about everyone by that point in time; UV rays were hard to come by even if you spent a lot of time outdoors. Dehydration and antibiotic resistance was an assumed state of being for nearly everyone but the high class individuals.

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

I gathered a few things, including my spare goggles and my emergency mask, and set out for the street, hoping to find the pharmacy open this time.

The local pharmacies charged at least a week's worth of pay for anything in their store. The good news was that if you could afford it, you didn't need a doctor to approve the purchase. Prescriptions were a thing of the past. Anyone could buy any substance as long as you could afford it.

But with theft being as rampant as it was, the local solution was to place the pharmacy on complete lockdown, bars and steel plates and all, for an entire week after an attempted robbery. It was a way of punishing the entire community for a theft. It worked, to a point; the theft rate dropped by fifty percent almost overnight when the law was enacted. It was a rather clever solution, but extremely inconvenient and cruel to the innocent people who genuinely needed medication or supplies.

 **...XoXoXo...**

The pharmacy on the closest corner was closed; locked down like I feared. So I walked down the street a bit further and eventually found an open one. It was basically a kiosk, run by a law officer and a little girl who looked to be about six years old. I overheard the child speaking to the officer, and I noticed that she was speaking Beirush, a bastardized language that combined Spanish, Russian, French, Chinese, and some English. It was becoming increasingly popular amongst the street dwellers, and over time I grew to understand some of it.

I approached the kiosk with caution, and handed over a list of the items I would need.

The armed officer looked over the list carefully, and I saw the cute little girl peeping over the countertop to try to read the note as well.

"Five thousand for the meds. Two hundred for the lice and flea stuff."

"Alright. I… I think I have enough." My hand quaked as I reached into my pocket for my pay-card. It had a rather large balance saved up on it, but I'd hardly expected that I'd be spending it on antibiotics and delousing medication. It was a little emotionally difficult to spend money sometimes.

The officer scanned my pay-card and looked at his little computer screen, his beady eyes scrutinizing the little numbers and words displayed on it.

"You've got the balance for it, but the majority is in your Travel Account. Are you sure you want to-"

"Yes." I interrupted, in a hurry to get back to my patient.

"Alright then." The officer took a dirty, greasy, overly-reused grocery bag and put the items inside it.

He handed my pay-card back to me and looked at me a little warily; like he was regretting taking my money in the first place. It was as if he _knew_ what I was doing; sacrificing my escape from this hell hole of a city to save the life of a street rat; a homeless Omega who might not live another year in these toxic conditions.

"Here's your stuff…. Take care... and, good luck." He said kindly. I nodded to him and the little girl before leaving, walking at a fast pace; almost a jog, in a hurry to get back home.

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

I found my little omega just as I'd left him; sleeping and breathing well. I was relieved, and I set about preparing some food. The supplies in the city were obviously limited, but I got by. I went to the grocery every week just as everyone else did; stood in line to get my labeled box and bag full of canned and bagged goods. The box had my name, birth date and ID number on it, and all I needed to do was pick it up. It was a deplorable way to get anything decent, but at least it was efficient.

I made some toast on my small stovetop and cooked up some liquid egg. Cheese was a rare commodity, but on occasion I would find a three or four ounce square of it in the bottom of my grocery bag. I think the Omega woman at the grocery was sweet on me.

The meat made available was mostly made out of cat or dog, and occasionally I ate it, but most of the time I used it as currency to barter for things like batteries or other rarities. It was the hardest thing I ever did in my life, going nearly vegetarian, diet-wise, so I could live more comfortably; and at times just so I could _survive_.

I had a pet cat for a short time; he vanished shortly after his arrival, likely scavenged for food, poor thing. But ever since I formed a bond with the cat I could hardly bring myself to eat the meat of one.

The small but healthy breakfast was brought into the bedroom and I set it down on the bedside table next to the slumbering Omega. He was all skin and bones, deathly skinny and no doubt extremely malnourished. I had to try to get him to eat.

"Sweet one, wake up. It's time to eat."

A little sigh escaped the little Omega's lips and he slowly opened his tired, crusty eyes.

"Hmmm?"

"You need to eat something. You must be very hungry. I brought you some food."

"But… I don't have any money I… can't pay you."

"Oh don't you worry. I don't expect any payment. I just want to see you get well. You were very sick last night; I was worried. Please, eat some eggs at least."

The little boy propped himself up on his arm, slowly, and cautiously, wary of my potentially threatening presence.

I handed him the plastic plate of food, and watched in amusement as his eyes widened in shock.

"Th-that's all for m-me?"

"Yes, my darling. It's for you. Now eat up, I don't want it to get cold."

He obeyed immediately, scarfing down the food like he hadn't eaten in weeks; and by the looks of his skeletal body it was entirely possible that he hadn't.

He took a pill from me once I explained to him what it was: a strong antibiotic that would help him fight infection. The very fact that he trusted me enough to take a mysterious pill, was a hopeful sign.

Once he'd finished his food, he regarded me with just a little more caution than before, as if he was expecting me to punish him or ask him for something in return. The look nearly broke my heart, and I hurt for this poor boy who had obviously been abused his entire life.

"Alright, little one. Do you feel as though you could stand? We need to get you a bath."

"A - a bath? Do you... have clean water?"

I chuckled a little, though I tried not to gain amusement from his awe, since it meant he hadn't been bathed in clean water in a very long time; possibly _ever_.

"Yes, my sweet. I have clean water. And, it's even _warm_."

He looked nearly ecstatic at the prospect of getting cleaned, and he all but flung himself off the bed, looking for the bathroom.

I started a warm bath and added plenty of the anti-flea solution in it. I put a little bit of soap in too, but was careful not to use too much. If the boy hadn't been cleaned in a long time he may have an allergic reaction to the soap.

I took a clean rag from the cupboard and motioned to the Omega to get in.

His eyes were as round as saucers as he cautiously got into the warm, bubbly water and sat down carefully, hissing when it touched his sensitive and sore private area.

"Gently, now, I don't want you to hurt yourself."

The boy relaxed, leaning back against the side of the tub and letting his head fall back, his breath even and calm. I washed his skin delicately, not wanting to startle him but also attempting to scrape year's worth of residue off his skin.

"Mmmm… hurts…." He whined as I picked at a particularly stubborn piece of dirt that was stuck to his underarm.

"I'm sorry, my darling. But I must wash you. Here, you take this cloth and I'll get another. We can get you cleaned up together."

He obeyed, taking to washing his muddy and bloody shins while I continued to wash his sides. It was quite the undertaking to wash everything off this boy, and I had to drain and refill the tub three or four times before finally being able to scrub him in clear water.

"Now, I need you to get on your hands and knees, and let your backside face me. I need to check you over."

The Omega gulped and nodded, obeying but this time a little hesitant.

In seconds I was faced with a very open and damaged hole. There wasn't any prolapse, so that was the good thing. The rest would heal over time. I took a fresh cloth and some soap and washed him gingerly, removing all the crusted blood and stool that had collected there. The poor thing would probably experience some incontinence over the next few weeks, but that was nothing I couldn't handle.

"You're doing so well. You're so brave and so very strong."

I received a surprised whimper in response.

When I motioned for the boy to sit back up, he did, looking a little embarrassed that I'd just been poking around his sensitive private area.

"My name is Hannibal. What is your name?"

"I- I don't really have one. I… usually just go by Omega. That is what my mother called me."

"What would you like to be called?" I tried not to sound aghast that this poor little boy was not even given the dignity of a name.

"I had a friend once, named Alana. She… called me Will."

"Will it is then. That is a fine name for a fine young boy like you. How old are you?"

"I don't really know. I think I might be fifteen, but I'm not sure. I… I've lived on the streets for so long, and it's hard to tell day from night anymore. I just haven't needed to keep track, you know?"

"Yes, I understand, Will. Fifteen sounds about right."

"How old are _you_?" He asked, clearly gaining some confidence, relaxing a little in my presence.

"I am forty years old."

"And… you're an Alpha."

"Yes." I wondered where he was going with this line of conversation.

"So you're… mated? You have a Beta or an… Omega mate?"

"No, Will. I'm alone. Well I _was_ , until I met you."

Will gasped suddenly, his breath cutting short as if I'd just stabbed him.

"I…. I don't want an Alpha..."

"Will I wasn't-"

"No, no, no, no, no!" He suddenly got very upset and stood up from the bath, flinging water droplets in every direction.

He grabbed a towel from the wall, covered himself and fled to the bedroom before I could stop him.

"Will, I did not intend to scare you. I didn't mean that we were-"

"I want to see my babies; my pups." Will said through a sheet of tears pouring down his face.

"Take me to them, _now_!"

"Will, we can talk about that-"

"NO! You will take me to see them NOW. I want my babies. And I want… to leave… here…"

Suddenly his breath caught tight in his throat and I realized that he was having an anxiety attack.

Sharp, sudden pulls for air accompanied high pitch cries, and I walked over there quickly so I could hopefully provide some level of comfort.

"Will…" My hand instinctively wrapped around the back of his neck and pinched firmly, making him go lax in my arms. I felt a little bad for using this trick again, but the last thing I needed was for a naked Omega to go bolting down the hallways of my apartment, shrieking about needing to find his pups. Clearly, the post partum hormones were coursing through the Omega's brain and he was hardly even lucid right now.

"Shh… it's okay Will. I'll help you. You're safe here. I promise you."

And as I held him in my arms, the sobbing, hyperventilating Omega, I knew that nothing in the world was going to ever be able to keep me from fulfilling that promise.

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

"Wake up Will, it's time for lunch." My little Omega fell asleep after his panic spell, and I tucked him in again since he was still naked and still feeling a little cool to the touch.

Will stirred and slowly opened his eyes.

"Mmmm?"

"You need to eat. Sit up, please."

Will complied, still cautious.

"I made you a sandwich. It has some peanut butter in it. I hope you like it."

"Thank you…" Will again scarfed down the food, keeping watch over me in the corner of his eye.

"How have you been feeling, precious one?"

"I… feel _guilty_ … Letting you take care of me like this when I can't repay you."

"Will, I've been alone for thirty years; I've had no family and few friends. I've had no one to care for but myself and… this feeling I get inside me when I look after you… It fills a void that's been eating away at me for decades. So please, do not feel guilty. Just let me take care of you; it helps _me_ just as much as it does you."

The little boy still looked very confused, but he nodded anyway.

"Do you have any questions for me? You can ask me anything."

"Are… my pups gone? Did… did they die?"

My heart ached but I realized I brought it on myself; I _did_ say he could ask anything…

"Yes. I'm very sorry, but by the time I found you, it was too late. I doubt they suffered long; if that is any comfort to you."

Will had already burst into tears, covering his face with his hands.

"Th-they… _They_ were my only comfort! Th-the only thing that I felt was worth living for; the only good thing to come of the horrible things those Alphas _did_ to me…"

"Will I…"

"I don't want your pity! I know what Alphas are like! You are all the same! Just… leave me alone, don't pretend to know what I'm feeling!"

"I could never, _ever_ comprehend what you're feeling, Will."

Upon hearing that, he visibly calmed, marginally lowering his defenses.

"Just know that I am here for you. I… can offer you comfort; if you want it."

Surprisingly, he cuddled close to my chest, whimpering a little upon smelling the pheromones wafting off my body.

I had yet to smell anything distinct from Will; his hormones were too off-balance. Considering the death of his pups and the postpartum healing, it wasn't all that surprising.

"I'm sorry to change the subject, but I need to trim your hair and put some powder in it. It won't hurt, I promise, I just… want to make sure you get healthy, from head to toe."

I made sure not to bring up the subject of lice, as I did not wish to alarm the poor boy any more than I already had.

Will consented to the non-invasive procedure, and in no time we were situated in the bathroom, Will sitting on the toilet while I snipped away at his hair with long-blade scissors. Since I'd washed it with the harsh soap in the bath, his hair dried all feathery, and it comically frizzed every which way.

I cut the hair much shorter than I wanted to, but I knew it was necessary to get rid of all the nits in his hair. And there were so many. At first I mistook them for thousands of flakes of dry skin, but upon close inspection I realize that they were lice eggs, stuck fast to the fibers of his hair.

Will's hair was almost military-short by the time I finished, but I knew that as long as I could keep the lice away, his hair could grow to be beautiful and long and curly again.

I used the special de-lousing powder, making sure to use only the amount absolutely necessary, knowing that he might need more than one treatment in a few days and I had to use my limited supplies wisely.

"What do you think? I'm sorry, I'm not exactly a professional." I asked once I rinsed the powder from his hair.

Will looked in my small vanity mirror with an expression of shock and awe.

"I… I guess it will grow back, right?"

"Of course. And I look forward to seeing it long again."

Will went quiet while still staring at himself in the mirror. He looked in disbelief, not truly taking in the fact that it was his own reflection; he didn't recognize the gaunt, pale face in the mirror.

"I look so different… I practically look like a skeleton, without all my hair."

"I think you are beautiful." The words escaped my mouth unbidden, and only after they came out did I fully realize what I'd done.

Will seemed to go cold, suddenly; his mind went somewhere distant; away from the present and to somewhere traumatic in the past.

"I'm sorry Will I… didn't mean to upset you. I can be so forward at times; I apologize."

Will shrugged, refusing to look at me.

"It's okay."

"Tell me, Will, have you lived in the city all your life?"

Will nodded.

"Yes… My mother… she tried to escape before they closed off the city, but she couldn't run fast enough, because she was eight months pregnant with me."

I could tell Will somehow blamed himself for his mother's ill fate.

"How did _you_ end up here?" Will asked in turn. "Didn't you try to escape?"

"I was sent here _after_ they close off the city I… was working off a _debt_ to the authorities. I got into a spot of legal trouble. For six years I was more-or-less serving out my sentence here. But now I can leave, the same way anyone can."

Will scoffed bitterly.

"It's all fake, though. It _has_ to be. No one actually gets to leave here, not with all the diseases we're carrying and the radiation. Did you know… Alphas, Betas, and Omegas have almost gone extinct outside the city? The mutation isn't continuing anymore; the next generation of humans are reverting back to the way they were a hundred years ago."

"Oh? And how do you know this?" I asked, truly interested.

"I had a friend named Margot; she was sent here recently because she was a criminal too. She said that babies outside the city are being born without the animal traits now; they're… _normal_."

The idea intrigued me. It made some sense; the alien radiation from the nuclear war caused the traits to appear in the new generations, including myself, when I was in-utero four decades ago. But when the radiation began to clear, perhaps the mutation was starting to go away, reverting back to the previous DNA pattern. The idea almost seemed preposterous, scientifically, but there was still hope.

"That is most interesting, Will. But as for your other comment, I would like to think that I may soon make my escape. I have a good job and it makes enough money that I should be able to purchase my freedom in the near future."

Will grew noticeably jaded upon hearing that comment.

"Yeah, well… Good luck with that."

"I… I wasn't trying to imply that I would leave you here-"

"I wouldn't go with you, anyway, so it doesn't matter."

I left it at that; as much as I wanted to profess my rapidly growing affection and loyalty, I had to be selfless, for Will. He must have gone through so much; abandonment, homelessness… and from what I gathered… _rape_. I had to give Will time; and he could have it. I promised myself I would give him as much time as he needed.


	3. Guilty

The next few days Will did little else but sleep, bathe, and eat. His body was so tired; recovering from childbirth and all of the other things he'd survived.

I let him sleep as long he wanted. I'd given him fresh blankets and pillowcases, and the old soiled linens were thrown into the building's incinerator. I gave myself a light delousing treatment as a preventative measure and after that was taken care of, my paranoia settled some.

Will slept in my bed with me, platonically. And after several more baths had finally washed away all the chemicals he'd been exposed to, I noticed his sweet Omega scent; something very unique to him. I began to fall in love with it. There was surely no way I could fall asleep without that scent now. I was addicted to it. It smelled similar to what I remembered vanilla was like; _real_ vanilla; and perhaps a hint of sugar; like caramel. God, it had been forever since I ate anything sweet; sugar was the rarest delicacy of all in the city; even rarer than coffee.

Although Will never divulged any details of how he came to be pregnant at the age of fifteen, the traumatic effect on his psyche was obvious. He woke me in the middle of the night with high pitch whimpering and cries; he was obviously experiencing night terrors.

But our bond grew, even in his sleep. My comforting Alpha scent settled him. Each and every time the nightmares became too much, he turned over, seeking my warmth and scent. Once he'd found it, his nose would nestle in the thin layer of my grey chest hair and I heard him sigh with contentment.

"Sleep well, sweet one." I cooed into the darkness of the room; Will was already fast asleep, knocked out by my strong pheromones lulling him to rest.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

After four days of watching him sleep and feeding him three meals a day, I absolutely had to go to work. As much as I hated the idea of leaving him for a second, I had no more sick days left. And if I lost my job I could just say goodbye to the hope of ever getting out of the city.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

"Jakov, open up! I _know_ you're in there." I rapped on my neighbor's door with my fist. It was early, and I knew there was no way my acquaintance would be awake enough to have gone anywhere. I just had to make enough noise to get his attention.

I heard a muffled complaint coming from the other side of the thick wooden door, and in a few moments I heard the little click-clacks of deadbolts and chains being undone.

Finally the door opened, just a little, and Jakov's greasy, porous nose stuck out of the cracked opening.

"What could you _possibly_ want at this ungodly hour?"

"I need to speak with you on a personal matter. Will you let me in?" I cringed as I said the words, since I knew very well the condition in which my neighbor kept his apartment: cluttered and filled with what I called junk.

"Sure, just watch your step, I lost track of Barbara; she's slithering around here somewhere…"

The door finally opened some more and I stepped in, cautiously, watching my step as instructed. The last thing I needed was an angry nine-foot boa constrictor on my case.

Jakov miraculously maneuvered his rickety, rusty wheelchair around the narrow, cluttered hallway, acting as though it was second nature to him; that wheelchair had become a part of him years ago.

"What can I do for you? Need me to hack something? Business has been slow lately, I could use the challenge."

"No, I'm sorry. It's not anything like that. A few days ago I came upon a little boy in the tunnels; an Omega. He was very sick and-"

"Oh fuck. Don't tell me, you've brought the little pup home and kept him as a pet. Did you feed him? 'Cuz you know if you feed them they never go away."

"Jakov, he is not a _dog_. He is a human. Like you, and me. And yes, I've been taking care of him. Problem is… he is extremely traumatized. I can't… leave him alone, surely. But as you know I must go to work."

"Ah, ah, ah…. No, no, no…" Jakov waggled a bony finger at me.

"I'm a hacker, _not_ a babysitter."

"I can't pay you, at least not what you're worth. But I can… offer a trade."

Jakov adjusted his coke-bottle glasses, sliding them up his nose with his oily fingers, leaving smudge marks on the lenses. The action irked my compulsive need for cleanliness and order, but I simply grit my teeth and bore it.

"Look around you, Hannibal, I have more stuff than all of the people in this God-forsaken building combined. What the hell could you possibly have that I would want?"

I knew this was a rhetorical question. Really, he was just asking me to spell it out; to say aloud what he already knew I was offering.

"You know very well what I mean. I could… _you know_ …"

" _Hmmm_?"

"I could… get you a meeting with Gragon."

" _Ohhhhhh_ … I see. And you'll make good on the deal this time? 'Cuz the last time, I ended up spending a week _in jail_ for trespassing because of you and your sissy attempts."

"I know. I have a better way. I can just about guarantee you access this time."

Jakov contemplated my words carefully, knowing that if I was lying or mistaken that his life would be at risk; and possibly my own life as well.

"Alright… Throw in some help finding my snake and you've got a deal."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

After finding "Barbara" trying to make an escape down an old toilet pipe, I made arrangements for Jakov to stay in my apartment while I was away at work. My apartment was almost completely wheelchair accessible, save for a small step on either side of the inset living room, which served no purpose at all, save to look fashionable when it was designed, no doubt.

I found Will stirring in the bed when I entered the room. He looked absolutely immaculate; innocent and a little disoriented, still getting his bearings and just waking up.

"How are you feeling, Will? Did you sleep well?"

He nodded, yawning and stretching his lanky arms out wide.

He paused suddenly when he noticed my poncho; the jacket I wore outside to protect my clothes from the harsh elements.

"Are you… _leaving_?" He sounded worried, his eyes instantly glistening with potential tears.

"I wanted to talk to you first, Will. I have to go to work today. If I don't I could lose my job, which would be detrimental."

"But… But…"

"I have a friend I'd like you to meet. I trust him. He's going to stay with you until I get back tonight. Come out with me? We can talk to him together. And… if you're not comfortable staying with him, I will make other arrangements. Does that sound agreeable?"

 **...XoXoXo...**

Jakov was situated in my kitchen, heating up some God-awful canned stew, whistling away as he cooked at the awkward angle caused by his short wheelchair.

"Hey, kiddo." Jakov said in his nasally, friendly tone.

I'd put Will in an oversized shirt and let him use a pair of my undergarments, secured around his tiny waist using a bootlace as a belt.

"You're… you're in a wheelchair."

"And you have eyes." My friend retorted sardonically.

"You must be Will. I'm Jakov. I'm a Beta, so, don't worry. Don't have to be scared of me or anything. And if you like, you can also forget I exist. I'm just here to eat Hannibal's food."

Will smiled at the joke, and I could tell that he was warming up to the idea of staying with Jakov for the day.

I prepared my outdoor gear, expecting the acidic rain I knew was inevitable considering the temperature and humidity the day before.

Just as I was getting ready to leave, Will scampered over to me, a small smile on his smooth, angelic face.

"I'm going to miss you, my sweet. You have a good time with Jakov, yes?"

Will nodded, his eyes wide with mixed emotions.

"…Please be safe." He hesitated before saying it, but I could tell he meant it. And it made my heart swell with happiness.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

The streets were filled with murky floodwater that morning. The water level was so high it almost leaked into my shin-high rubber boots. The rain had mostly stopped, but I knew that the water would stick around for at least a day while it made its way through the faults worn into the concrete barrier around the city.

People sloshed through the water as fast as they could. Most didn't have protective footwear and they cringed as the acidic water irritated their feet.

Everyone there, sloughing through the flood, risking severe skin infection, was either on their way to work, or on their way home from third shift. No one stood in the water any longer than absolutely necessary, for obvious reasons.

The acidity came from the toxins in the atmosphere; those in the middle class and above, such as me, were lucky to have water filters provided by the city government. The lower class however, those who were often found to be irreparably damaged by the radiation and of no use to the government, had to fend for themselves, stealing equipment and filters; an offense which would lead to death, if they were lucky.

The alternative penalty to death was lab rat; the mutated bipedal forms that barely looked human were often corralled into laboratories and sliced apart; dissected and experimented on in the most inhumane fashion imaginable.

However, criminals who were not mutated beyond recognition were punished by being placed in jail, put to work, or put to death; depending on just how cooperative they were. If the government could use them, that would save their life. I was fortunate enough to have been an asset a decade ago; all told it was my Master's Degree in Psychiatry that saved me from a life in prison.

And that, unfortunately, is where a good friend of mine lay wasting away: Gragon, the infamous hacker extraordinaire. Computers and technology were never my area of expertise, but it didn't stop me from appreciating just what that man could accomplish with a few simple key strokes.

Even as a criminal-psychoanalyst for the BCA, I didn't have access to my friend. I was restricted solely on the basis that he and I were 'affiliated' in the past. After all, Gragon was one of the most influential men who ever lived. He led the most potent rebellion ever known to man; one that _almost_ won the war. And I would know... He and I lived together for almost fifteen years.

The guards stationed at the entrance to the BCA bunker eyed me with scrutiny as I walked past, doing my best to look confident; like I belonged. Even after a decade, I still felt like a traitor every day; working for the government; the enemy, of sorts.

"Good morning," I said curtly when the burly, bald man with tattoos covering his face opened the door for me, allowing me access thanks to the name badge I wore.

The guard huffed in reply, sounding positively identical to an unimpressed warthog.

 **...XoXoXo...**

Surprisingly I felt a bit more at ease once inside the belly of the beast; my office was located deep inside the bowels of the prison bunker, and once I'd reached it, I felt like I could finally breathe.

Inside the BCA bunker, there were cameras in virtually every single hallway and corridor, including in my office. I'd disabled my security camera years ago, and I checked on it frequently to make sure no one had reactivated it. It was kept in its place so that anyone who gave a quick glance would think it was still on. But I didn't care if I got in trouble for it; they needed me. I was the only psychoanalyst around; the only person in the whole fucking city who could evaluate risks of behavior relapse, or how much electroshock therapy a mind could take.

I dredged through communism and other inhumane ideals every day. Most days I hated myself for what I did. But some part of me knew that I was only doing what I had to in order to survive.

The gigantic stack of files on my desk would only get bigger as the week went on; three steps forward, four steps back. That was always the way. The only method I had to not be driven mad by the futility was to just focus on one file at a time; one patient at a time.

And as much as I had to look at my patients as criminals, I also sympathized with them. Ten years ago I was in their shoes; shackled to the floor, mostly naked, strapped tightly to chairs on the jailer's every whim, and fed nothing but a mysterious mush that smelled like corn, dead fish, and chemicals.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Late in the afternoon, I walked down the hallway of Cell Block C, perusing through my latest file, reading up on the criminal that had arrived only a few days ago. The criminal's file had no name listed, like usual. Her file was simply labeled "21ADC-21924"

The criminal in question had apparently been caught stealing from a pharmacy; one of the highest crimes possible, against the Bureau of Criminal Affairs. People didn't get punished anymore for things like murder (at least not amongst the lower and middle classes.) As long as you kept a peaceful calm about the city, and didn't cause trouble for any BCA officer, then you were free to do just about anything. But there were many things that could piss off a BCA officer, which would send you to jail without so much as proof, or a hearing, or any legal proceedings of any sort. Generally, people behaved; most didn't rape or murder, and especially not within earshot of the BCA.

"21ADC-21924… Please stand up."

A small, slight figure was sitting in the corner, her greasy, long hair covering her face. The front cell walls were made of a bullet proof polymer, completely transparent for obvious surveillance advantages. There were small holes in the glass to allow fresh air and communication from one side to the other.

"Come now, I don't have all day. I need to speak with you. If I do not have some form of communication with you I fear I will have no choice but to have the warden place you on a medication that would make you more… compliant. Do you want that?"

My honest threat instantly got a reaction. The bony girl stood up from the corner and walked towards me.

When she approached me she sniffed the air; subtly, but my keen eye noticed it. The girl's file indicated that she was nineteen, but she was clearly delayed in growth due to being an Omega, and there was no doubt malnutrition had a hand in it as well. I first expected that she was smelling me to get a sense of my species rank; an Alpha. But the look in her eyes betrayed that it was more than that.

Her scrutinizing green eyes looked at me with a strange fascination.

The fixated gaze made me uncomfortable, and I looked away briefly, pretending to look at the open file.

"There now… that wasn't too hard, was it? Now, tell me your na-"

"Will."

"Excuse me?"

"You know Will..."

"Yes I…"

"What did you do to him?" She said in a most urgent voice.

"Young lady, I don't think you quite understand-"

"No _you_ don't understand, you fucking bastard! If you harmed a single hair on his head, I am going to rip your throat out, got it?"

The surprisingly loud Omega drew the attention of a guard, who peeked his head around a corner to see what was going on. I quickly waved him off, and I felt grateful when he acknowledged my gesture and went back about his business.

"Shhh!" I hushed her with equal urgency, trying to convey with my eyes just how imperative her subtlety was.

"I swear to you, Will is just fine." I hissed, hoping she could hear me through that small opening.

My statement made her calm visibly.

"Where. Is he?"

"He's safe. Now… you are a friend, I take it?"

"Yes, I'm his friend. I got _arrested_ trying to steal some meds for him. Isn't that in your _file…_?"

"You must be… Alana?"

The girl nodded.

"He told me about you."

"Good. Now get me out of here. I need to see him."

My eyebrows furrowed.

"That is quite the tall order. I don't think you fully realize how difficult that would be; just about impossible, really."

"Why? You work here, don't you? You can just sneak me out with the laundry bin. Please, I…"

"Look, Alana. I could not help you if I wanted to. There are cameras everywhere. You would get caught, as would I." I knew that I was somewhat lying. There was a way out. I'd formulated an escape plan long ago. But I was saving it for Gragon; my best friend. I couldn't waste it on some Omega I'd just met.

I ended our conversation there, for the time being. I had other patients to attend to and then I could finally return home to my sweet Omega.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

"Will…? I'm back." I snuck into my apartment, hoping not to make too much noise as to startle him.

Relief and a bit of amusement washed over me when I saw Jacov and Will sitting around the coffee table in my living room, poring over a large array of papers.

"But what about the firewall? How did you get past that?"

"Well it was a bit tricky, but if you use the- Oh, Hannibal's back." Jakov waved over at me, and curious as to what they had strewn about the table I walked over, my hand instinctively hovering towards Will's back. Will flinched a little when my hand touched his shoulder gently, but he settled when he realized it was just me; the trust between us was certainly growing.

"I see you two got along just fine without me."

"Will here is pretty damn smart." Jakov said with a rare smile. "I should put him to work in my dungeon. I might actually get somewhere; Gragon or no Gragon."

Will looked puzzled.

"Who's Gragon?"

"Who's Gragon?!" Jakob repeated. "Only the world's best hacker. He was the one who started the rebellion just before they closed off the city fifteen years ago. He's in maximum security prison now."

"Oh… I think I've heard of him, now that you mention it."

"He and Hannibal used to have kind of a thing…" Jakov added unnecessarily.

"Purely conjecture on your part, Jakov." I scolded politely, as always.

"Yeah, whatever. You don't live in a Winnebago for fifteen years together without bumping dicks every once in a while. Just doesn't happen."

"You… you lived with Gragon?... Were you part of the rebellion?"

"I was, yes. That's part of the reason I ended up here; being associated with a cyber terrorist isn't exactly considered model-citizen behavior."

Jakov chuckled a little, and the glare he got from me gave him the hint he needed to take his leave.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, kid. I'll leave the papers here. You get some rest, yeah?"

Will said goodbye to his new friend, but afterwards things were noticeably more awkward between us.

"Look… Will I meant to tell you…"

"You said you've been alone for thirty years. Y-you _lied_ to me?"

"No, Will. I mean… I guess for the most part I've blocked out that part of my life… I miss it too much; being free, instead of trapped here in the city. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Gragon. I was going to tell you."

He still looked a little unconvinced. I'd brought it on myself, deceiving him, albeit unintentionally.

"Can we… just go to bed?" He said finally.

"Of course. Anything for you, my sweet."

That night Will gave me the cold shoulder, refusing to look at me or seek comfort in my warmth for the entire night. Truly, I felt bad about keeping the details about my companionship with Gragon from Will; I didn't even know why I excluded it to begin with.

More than anything in the world I wanted to gain Will's trust back. And somehow second to that, was the desire to help my friend escape prison. Even after all the years of friendship with Gragon, the passionate genius who could bring governments to its knees was suddenly second best to the little Omega sleeping in my bed.

Interesting how life works out like that.


	4. Virgin

In the morning I contemplated telling Will about his friend Alana. After all, withholding information from him had not exactly gone very well as of late. I should have learned my lesson.

But apparently I hadn't.

 **...XoXoXo...**

Jakov showed up, miraculously on time, and I spoke with him regarding my plans to help Gragon escape. Will was still fast asleep in bed, so I spoke freely regarding my future plans to reunite with my old friend; to revive the rebellion, ideally. A secondary plan would be to break Gragon out of the prison and to just leave; to cash in all of my earnings and leave the city, somehow smuggling Gragon and Will with me across the city barrier. The rebellion could wait; the escape plans, however, could not.

"I've got enough money for two of us." Jakov confessed to me in confidence. "Problem is, no one's gonna let Gragon across the barrier. He's been micro-chipped and flagged to never cross the border. How the hell are you even going to get him out of the prison? I thought you haven't even been able to talk to him for a decade. You said you don't have access to him."

"I don't… But don't you worry. I've had a plan brewing for some time. But we only get one attempt. If we fuck it up we won't be getting another one."

"Understood…. You sure you wanna fly solo on this one? I might be in a wheelchair but I'm not useless, you know."

"Oh, I am fully aware. And I'm not 'flying solo' as you put it. In fact, you are vital to this plan. Tell me, how are you at hacking into CCTV networks?"

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Once the beginning segment of the plan was settled, I prepared to leave for work. I kissed my sleeping Omega on the head before taking my leave, and a small smile spread across his face; he must have been having a good dream.

Jakov was rooting around in my nearly-barren cupboards when I left, and the sight reminded me that I had yet to get my groceries. But it would have to wait until after work.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

In an effort to stall any action regarding Will's imprisoned friend Alana, I submitted a report to my superiors that prescribed an extremely low-dose antipsychotic regimen, and labeled her status as 'Potential Asset: In Treatment.' That would keep her right where she was for a while; giving me plenty of time to decide what to do about the inconvenient position her presence put me in.

A decent amount of adrenaline coursed through my veins as I thought through my course of action for that afternoon.

I'd already eaten my plain, dry fish sandwich provided by the bunker's cafeteria, and it sat like a weighty brick inside my stomach as I quickly snuck inside the cafeteria kitchen.

I walked to the locker room behind the kitchen, and I shucked off my clothes as nonchalantly as I could and donned a roomy pair of unisex scrubs that the orderlies and kitchen workers wore. I knew that the surveillance cameras were picking up not only my every move, but the infra red sensors would pick up my body temperature, and an invisible laser could even measure my heart rate; I just had to remember to keep myself calm as to not draw attention or set off any alarms.

It would only take the right pair of eyes on a monitor and they would know: Doctor Hannibal Lecter had gone rogue.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

I didn't make eye contact with any of the kitchen workers as I shuffled a little clumsily in the ill-fitting scrubs and sequestered a filled cafeteria cart. The all-too familiar smell of the fish-corn gruel made me gag, but I pressed on.

And it was just my luck that the cart I grabbed had a bum wheel. The cart nearly tipped over a few times, and left scuff marks on the floor as I struggled to get it down the hall, knowing for a fact that it was too late to switch it out for another one.

I walked briskly, but not too briskly. I kept my head down and tried not to appear too eager to get my job done; after all, looking like an efficient employee would be most suspicious of all.

 **...XoXoXo...**

Thirty meal deliveries later, I finally found myself at the steel barricade entry to the maximum security ward.

The guard behind the barricade peeked through the viewing slit and gave me a good once-over. I didn't make eye contact. I tried my best to look like a begrudging employee, forced to work against my will.

It worked.

The metal door swung open and I shuffled through the door with my bum cart, faking a nasty cough to keep the guard from coming too close, as he would surely recognize me.

There were only three cells in the maximum security ward; and it looked as though two of them were empty.

I took a small piece of paper from inside the waistband of my scrubs and secretly squished it inside the bowl of gruel. A tiny corner of the paper was visible, but only from a close up view. I found myself praying to the universe that Gragon would find it.

I opened the sliding door in the steel prison cell barricade and shoved the small bowl of gruel inside. I resisted the temptation to peek inside the small opening. After all these years I was finally within a mere meter of my best friend. I wondered what he looked like now, after all this time in isolation. But I couldn't look; spending any more time with my delivery would get me caught, surely, and I couldn't risk it.

I left quicker than I arrived, hoping my plan had worked. The entire plan hinged on Gragon finding the note. It read:

 _"G: In two days, you'll get three pills. Take them ten minutes before the guard makes his evening rounds. See you on the other side. – H."_

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Will and Jakov were busy with some computer programming lessons when I returned home. I put in about thirteen hours of work that day, and amazingly I'd gone over forty new prisoner files and re-examined twenty others that were already patients of mine. My head hurt from all the reading in the poor bunker lighting, but I felt it already starting to improve the moment I got home.

"Hey, Hannibal. We were just finishing up for the night. Will's really got a knack for this stuff."

I felt proud that Will already managed to impress Jakov, a man who was most certainly not easily impressed.

"I'm glad to hear it. How are you feeling, Will?"

"I'm good… Jakov said you're out of food." He said with a slight bit of amusement, but at the same time I could sense some concern in his voice.

"Yes, I am planning on going to the grocery tonight to pick up my food box. Would you like to join me? It might be good for you to get outside. You've been cooped up in this apartment for almost a week. I have some different clothes that might fit you a bit better."

Will shook his head vigorously.

"No, no… I'm good. I'll, wait for you here. Jakov doesn't have to stay, I'm fine."

Jakov and I both raised our eyebrows upon hearing Will's insistence on staying. He seemed scared.

Having little options, I conceded to letting Will stay home alone for the hour I would be gone.

Jakov followed me out of the apartment.

Once the door was closed, he whispered,

"What the fuck was that about? Most Omegas would have jumped at the chance to be paraded around by their Alpha."

"Well, for starters, Will is not _my_ Omega. And God only knows what horrible things other Alphas did to him before I found him… You should have seen him, Jakov…"

A look of realization came over my friend's face.

"Ohh… God… why didn't I realize it? He was pregnant, wasn't he? I knew I smelled something off about him… You… Do you suppose he's hiding? From his Alpha?"

"He's certainly hiding from someone or something, yes. Otherwise that boy is far too independent to stick around to be cared for. He's been alone for years I doubt it's easy for him to accept help. But with my help comes protection; and that is one thing he will take right now."

Jakov pivoted his wheelchair around to go to his own apartment, and he said over his shoulder,

"Well whatever's got that kid so scared has got to be bad; we'd better watch our backs."

And as much as I wanted to think that I could handle anything this city threw at me, I knew he was right. Whoever hurt Will was someone that I, as an Alpha trying to live under the radar and behave, did _not_ want to cross paths with.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

The grocery was packed full of people that night. I stood in line for half an hour just to pick up my box and paper bag full of second rate bread, eggs, and canned goods. I spent another twenty minutes trying to find some decent clothes for Will. Clothes didn't come cheap, but I was able to find some lightly used outfits that looked good, and for a decent price, all things considered. I also picked up a bundle of fresh linens, which were mystifyingly double the cost of the clothes.

I took the safest route home: out in the open, where there were many BCA officers patrolling on foot and on bikes. It was where I was the least likely to get robbed or mugged.

As an Alpha I had a bit of an advantage; there were not many people with the guts to steal from someone like myself; a middle class citizen who walked with purpose and confidence; like I knew that no one was going to fuck with me; _daring_ someone to fuck with me, in fact.

 **...XoXoXo...**

I was just five blocks from home when my arms were tiring from the load I carried. I had my paper grocery bag sitting atop the cardboard box, and plastic bags hung on my wrists. It was getting increasingly difficult to walk as briskly as I needed to, and I almost toppled over when a big, strong force brushed my shoulder from the side: a six-foot-seven Alpha not paying enough attention to where he was walking. Or so I thought….

"Excuse me…" I said bitterly while I regained my balance, grateful that nothing fell to the street. I started to walk again, but I suddenly felt a hand this time; it was grabbing my arm.

I froze, making sure to remain calm as I heard a gruff voice growl into my ear.

"Don't think I don't smell 'im on you, mate." The overbearing Cockney accent threw me off my game a bit; it had been a long time since I heard one of those.

"What? _Who_?"

The Alpha didn't buy into my playing dumb.

"You tell that cock suckin' Omega we're comin' for 'im. 'e can't hide in the high-rises forevah. And you tell 'im he owes me two pups... Yeah, I foun' 'em… Worthless fucker let 'em die, 'e'll get the same treatmen' once I get what's mine."

I made brief eye contact with a BCA officer, who was coincidentally crossing the street towards me and the looming Alpha.

The Alpha must have spotted the officer as well, because the strong grip let go very suddenly.

I didn't even look back to see what the Alpha looked like. I just walked as quickly as I could home, taking several tricky routes to make sure I wasn't followed.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

"Will?" I called out the moment I opened the door to my apartment.

I was relieved when Will came padding over to see what my urgent tone was about.

"Yes?"

"Oh… nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were still here." I set the groceries down on the small kitchen counter and began to put them away.

"Did something happen?" He fished, almost as if he knew that I might be approached by someone; a very territorial and angry someone.

"Well, on my way home I… _met_ someone. Someone who seemed to know _you_."

"Oh." Will went pale.

"What did they say?"

"I think you already know what he said; or at least you _suspect_ it."

"Look, Hannibal… I don't want you to feel like I've used you… But…"

"But what?" I said with a slight bit of impatience, but mostly amusement. I knew this very conversation was inevitable, considering Will's current 'in-hiding' status.

"I've… felt _safe_ here. With you. I don't want to go back. Please, don't make me go back… I'll do anything…"

Will's voice cut off in a trembling mess, and I observed the beginnings of another panic attack coming on.

"Will, please, calm yourself. I would never do anything to harm you. You are never going to back to that brute, I swear it. You may stay with me as long as you wish."

The Omega visibly calmed upon hearing my assurances, and he allowed me to pull him into a comforting embrace. He breathed in my scent once more, solidifying the foundation of the bond we had forming between us.

"Thank you… I… Wish there was something I could do in return. I'm not used to being treated kindly."

"I hope to change that. You _deserve_ to be treated well."

"Can I… ask you something?"

"Yes Will; anything."

"Will you… be my Alpha? I… want you to _claim_ me. Please."

My heart skipped a beat and took off into a gallop upon hearing him ask that. I wanted to accept. In fact I wanted to accept right away and claim him right then and there. But I knew it would be a foolish decision.

"Will… you have no idea how long I've wanted to have a mate; an Omega to call my own. But… this is a very big, nearly _permanent_ decision. I want to be mated with someone who loves me, and wishes to be with me forever, _because_ of that love. I understand that you want the claiming bite for protection. But I will protect you regardless, my sweet; as if you were my mate; at least until the danger has passed, or until you desire to leave."

"But… you're not really getting anything in return. My body is useless to you right now and… I won't be in heat again for another few months, at least."

"My reason for caring about you is not because of what you can do for me, Will. I won't lie, I do wish to cultivate a relationship with you; but that will take time."

"You…. Want to _court_ me? Like… in the romance stories?"

"Yes, Will. But I am a patient man. I will wait until you are ready. And ready, you are not. Just please, let me protect you the way I know how. Let's not jump into things hastily. How does that sound to you?"

Will contemplated my words carefully, thinking on each one and no doubt trying to analyze my motives. Hell, I didn't even know where all this chivalry was coming from; I couldn't expect Will to understand it as well.

"I guess I'll sleep on it. Is that okay?"

"More than okay. It's a wonderful idea. Now, let's go to bed. I am very tired. It was a very long day at work."

Will pulled away from my embrace but surprisingly he grasped my hand as he guided me to the bedroom. A curious expression came over his face.

"What do you do at work again, exactly?"

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

That night I dreamt of making love to Will. It was a strange dream; it was very unspecific; like my body wasn't really my body and Will was not really there… It was just a serious of feelings; emotions, expressions of those emotions, and passion; so much passion. I felt as though I was kissing someone, and that I was kissed back; I felt a warmth deep in my gut; pleasure building to orgasm. I felt excited, warm, hot, dizzy, and…

Loved.

Overwhelmed by all these emotions, I forced myself to wake up. My heart was racing in my chest and I suddenly realized that I was feeling something… something very wet, and warm, in my private area.

My eyes finally adjusted to the dimly lit bedroom and I saw a lump in the blankets, just below my waist: Will.

I flung back the top blanket, and my breath caught in my chest when I saw my little Omega, kneeling between my legs, his mouth sucking on one of my testicles.

"Ahhhh…" I gasped when he intentionally increased the suction on my sensitive organ.

"Will… please…" I managed to strangle out. It had been years since I'd been touched by another human being, even longer since I'd been _orally_ stimulated.

The Omega paid no mind to my half-assed objection, and he continued on, this time he braved his way northwards, to my enormous, aching erection. I was not one to brag, but I knew for a fact that my cock was far above average size, even for an Alpha. It was entirely possible that Will had never seen a cock so big.

"Will, my sweet, you don't have to-"

My voice cut off when he took my girth into his mouth and used both of his little hands to stroke the rest, just barely able to wrap his hands around it fully. My head fell back and my breath fell ragged. Someone had obviously taught this boy how to suck cock…

I tried not to let my mind go down that rabbit trail, to thinking about all the things Will must have been forced to do in the past. But instead I set down my proverbial sainthood pin for later, and just let myself feel this, for once. It had been _so_ , so long since I'd even had an orgasm, let alone had someone else take me there. And Will didn't appear to feel coerced. That was a possible projection on my part, seeing as I was the one getting my cock sucked, but the details could be dealt with later...

Will looked up at me with his beautiful blue eyes, obviously seeking praise and affirmation for his efforts.

My hand automatically shot down towards his short hair. It was longer on the top, but my fingers could just barely grip it. He moaned in response when I massaged his scalp, encouraging his wonderful ministrations.

"Will… Feels so good."

His tongue dove this way and that, massaging my frenulum and cock head, and his hands never stopped their synchronized strokes; it was like he was just begging for me to come in his mouth.

"Ahh… I'm going to come if you keep doing that..." I hissed, my toes curling in on themselves when he did this magical thing with his tongue; something I couldn't even describe if I tried.

My warning only egged him on; his hands tightened their grip and he added a delicious twisting motion up the upstroke. The tip of Omega's tiny tongue slipped inside my urethra opening and it was then I lost it.

"Ahhh! Will!" I grunted ungracefully as the most amazing orgasm washed over me. My pleasure was further intensified by the boy's continuous suction while I came. He swallowed every drop I gave him, and his hand milked me for more as the spurts slowed.

"Oh fuck… Fuck, fuck fuck…" I cursed as little shockwaves rippled through me. My cock was oversensitive now, but I let Will do as he wished, enjoying the ride in the process.

I watched with hazy vision as Will finally pulled off. He swallowed the last portion of semen, never breaking eye contact with me as he did it.

"Will… I… that was incredible."

"Sure seemed like it." Will said with a little bit of amusement in his voice. A glance at his surprisingly naked form revealed that his tiny cock was erect as well.

"Let me… Reciprocate, please." I said while still a little breathless.

"You… want to _touch_ me?" He sounded bewildered.

"Yes. Please lay back. Let me make you feel good."

"O-okay…" Will looked very surprised indeed, and it made me wonder if anyone had ever been considerate towards him, sexually or otherwise.

Once my Omega was laying back, propped up on his elbows, my mouth was already making its way towards his tiny erection. His cock was about three inches in length and slender. It fit inside my mouth easily, and I slathered it luxuriously with plenty of saliva and moved it around with my tongue lovingly and aggressively. Although the thought had not yet occurred to me, I was _making love_ to his cock. I was making out with his erection the way I wanted to kiss him; passionately; as if it was the last thing I would ever get to do.

"Ah!" Will all but shouted, positively writhing from the start.

Male Omegas didn't usually develop testicles, but they still had a scrotum. While his cock was still in my mouth I let my tongue slip down to his sac, licking it sensually and loving the moans I was getting in return.

"Oh God… Oh God, Oh God…" Will breathed as a mantra, trying to stave off his orgasm, so soon. It appeared as though both of us were having an issue with stamina that morning…

"Please… Hannibal I'm so closssseeee…."

I smiled a little as I returned my efforts to sucking hard on his cock while my fingers came up to play with his obviously very sensitive scrotum. I kept away from his hole entirely, knowing that he ought to still be in a decent amount of pain, given that he'd only given birth a week ago.

"Oh fuck… Hann… Hann…" Will couldn't even finish his warning as I felt him tense every muscle in his body as he was throttled off the ledge to orgasm. His hips bucked wildly up and down, forcing his cock in and out of my mouth while he rode his obviously extremely intense orgasm.

A little dose of semen shot into my mouth, but most of it flung every which way, landing on his chest, on the bedspread, on the sheets, and even a little bit got on the wall behind Will's head.

I gave the softening member a little lick to finish up, and I delighted in the knee-jerk reaction Will responded with. He too, was over stimulated and extremely sensitive after orgasm.

"Th-thank you…" Will said, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"It was my pleasure, my sweet." I rested next to my sated Omega, enjoying the fresh waft of pheromones wafting from him. They were affectionate, in nature.

In a sudden surge of boldness, I licked at his scent gland, located at the base of his neck, just above where the neck joined the shoulder. Instantly my mouth was filled with a delicious, sweet taste like I'd just licked a raw honeycomb. I moaned a little, letting my hopefully future mate know that I _loved_ his scent. An Omega found it fulfilling to know that his Alpha approved of his scent; it was a point of pride and bonding between mates, or mates-to-be.

"Hannibal…" Will pushed me way lightly, and I immediately obeyed his gesture.

"Yes Will?"

"I… I've never had anyone do that to me. What… what we just did."

"You mean… you've never had anyone pleasure you like that?"

Will shook his head in reply.

"Oh my… Will I had no idea… I-"

"I'm glad it was you. I'm glad you were my first. It felt… Well let's just say that it was the most pleasure I think I've ever had in my life. And I… would love to do it again sometime."

My heart soared at the idea of doing that again, and again, and again, with my sweet boy. If he wanted it, nothing was going to keep me from fulfilling that desire.

"Of course Will. I would enjoy that immensely."

Humming with satisfaction, Will closed his eyes again, falling back asleep. I looked at my watch, and realized that I had to get up for work already. I was reluctant to pry myself away from my sweet Omega's embrace, it felt so good to be close to him.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

As I prepared for work, my mind was filled with thoughts of Will's past. It was so disheartening to think that whatever he had gone through with his previous Alpha(s), they hadn't provided him with sexual pleasure, and instead, evidenced by his oral talents, made him service them selflessly, with no reciprocation. It made my stomach sick to think of my perfect, angelic Will going through that.

And it made me angry.

I just had to hope that however long it took for Will, myself, and the rest of my friends to escape the city, that in that time I would not cross paths with the perpetrators of those crimes against my Omega. I wouldn't trust myself for two seconds with those bastards. Because I knew that the next encounter would most certainly be a blood bath.

An image surged through my mind like an erotic fantasy: a dead Alpha, split open with a knife, chest cavity spread wide and its thumping, quivering heart between my teeth.

Yes, that seemed a very fitting picture.

I just had to make sure I kept that image a fantasy, and nowhere near reality. Because no matter how much I missed the delicious taste of blood and raw flesh and Alpha pheromones coating my tongue, I could never go back to that. Not when I had so much at stake.

Not when I had a future mate to lose.


	5. Captive

Bedelia answered the phone on the fourth ring.

"Hello?"

"Bedelia. I'm so glad I reached you."

"Well good morning to you too, Hannibal." Her voice was laced with sarcasm. "You know, after I saved your friend's life I figured I'd be hearing from you on his progress. But I guess no news is good news, right?"

"Yes, he is doing well, thank you… Now I need-"

"How come the _only_ reason you ever contact me is when you need something?"

"Well I could ask the same of you, my dear. Tell me, when was the last time _you_ made a social call, _hmmm_? As I recall the last time you called _me_ , you needed a certain _Alpha_ of yours institutionalized…"

"Alright… fair enough. What do you want?"

Bedelia's initial abrasiveness was part of her personality; she always had to give me shit before actually becoming helpful.

"I need three hundred milligrams of Althriazapam, fifty micrograms of Deriphradol, and an injectable reversing agent for both. Bonus points for some low dose arsenic. Do you have any?"

"What the fuck, Hannibal? You trying to _kill_ somebody?"

"Actually, yes. That's exactly what I'm trying to do."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

The hospital was a couple mile walk, and it felt good to be out in the sunshine; what little made it through the boggy atmosphere, that is.

I passed by several small greenhouses growing potatoes, peanuts, and corn. The greenhouses were small, and the UV lights mounted on the sides were powered by compost generators, making it the one of the most putrid neighborhoods to walk through. Sewage was gathered from different collection points and poured directly into the compost generators. The feces and other types of waste decomposed in a chamber, and the resulting gases were used as a natural fuel.

The city also used wind turbines to produce energy, in concert with the compost. They were both solutions to the expensive and carbon-heavy alternative, which was coal, of course. But the city had no shortage of wind and shit; that much was certain.

 **...XoXoXo...**

The hospital was inordinately busy when I arrived, and I had to wriggle my way through throngs of Alphas, Betas and claimed Omegas waiting in line to speak with the receptionist, who doubled as an ER triage nurse.

"Excuse me… pardon me… _I work here_ , excuse me…" I lied my way into budging through the line, and luckily no one called my bluff; if I worked there, why didn't I use the employee entrance out back?

God only knew that my lucky streak needed to continue for the next two days, if all of this was going to work out; if I was going to find myself anywhere else but a mass grave or prison by the end of it.

"Excuse me…" I said one last time before I finally found myself at the ER receptionist station. But bulletproof glass was hardly the only thing that stood between me and where I needed to be; I had Matilda, the sassy African-American Beta to contend with.

"Matilda. Good morning."

"Hannibal Lecter, if you think I'm letting you in, you've got another thing comin'." She said loudly enough for five or six people in line to hear her just fine.

"Hey, I thought you said you work here?" A voice groused from the waiting line. I ignored it, and so did Matilda, thankfully.

"I've got a meeting with Bedelia. Please. She said you'd let me in."

"I'm _sure_ she did. Thing is, _I'm_ not supposed to let anyone back there who don't belong."

"Alright… Well… I guess then you'll have no problem with me telling your supervisor about your little habit, hmm? Stealing _coffee_ from the board room, Matilda, _really_ …."

I nodded pointedly at the cup of dark colored liquid sitting on her cluttered desk. What could I say? Blackmail came second nature to me.

The nurse threw up her hands in a supplicant gesture and quickly slid a manila folder overtop the mug to hide it.

"Fine… I'm not lookin'…" She turned her back to me, pressing the release button on the underside edge of the desk to allow me access.

"I one you one, Matilda. Thank you."

"Mmmmhhhhmmmm…." Came her disapproving reply.

 **...XoXoXo...**

If the entryway to the hospital's ER was crowded, then the ER itself would be considered a zoo. Nurses and doctors were scurrying left and right, up and down. Patients were sitting on the floor along the walls, on countertops, wheeling aimlessly across the bullpen, you name it. It was discord personified. It reminded me, marginally, of the time when the war started; when the nuclear bombings first took place. Tens of thousands of people had been killed and injured back then, and countless others affected by the nuclear fallout. Then came a short nuclear winter in the most heavily affected locations. And as soon as that cleared up, the most toxic cities, such as New York, were closed off for pollution, mutation and infection containment.

My brain filled with images of those fateful first days: trying to help people; putting pressure on as many wounds as I could, performing necessary amputations in the hospital hallway without access to anesthetics or meds… It was the craziest time in human history, without a shadow of a doubt. And I was right there, for all of it.

"Hannibal." Bedelia found me standing in the middle of the hallway, looking like a psych patient, no doubt.

"Yes. Sorry Bedelia, it's good to see you."

"You look like you just saw a ghost. Do you need to sit down?"

"No, I'm just… a little overwhelemed. It's been a while since I've been to a hospital, I guess and… It's bringing back a lot of memories."

"Oh. right… I'm sorry…"

"Thank you, Bedelia, but apology is not necessary, I was just... getting caught up in my own head. Now… did you get the stuff I asked for?"

"Yes, I did." She reached into her nurse scrub pockets and pulled out a small foil package.

"It's all in there. Some clean needles too. Now are you going to tell me what the fuck this is all about?"

Bedelia said in a very low tone. We were standing in a dirty linen disposal room, where no one would suspect a conspiracy conversation to be taking place, surely. The sound of the industrial washers covered most of the noise anyway.

"I am in the process of getting Gragon out of prison. My friends and I are making an escape; soon."

Bedelia's eyes went wide as the ocean.

"I hope you know what you're doing. After all these years in isolation, I doubt your friend is as he used to be. It's been a decade, Hannibal."

"I am fully aware of how long it's been." I said a little impatiently.

Just as Bedelia was about to bite back with something quite smart, I'm sure, a young man in plain brown scrubs walked into the room.

"Oh, hey." He said uncaringly as he walked towards the trash bin holding a piece of electronic equipment.

"What's that?" I asked nonchalantly, hoping that the young man was as unsuspecting as he looked. I already knew what was in his hand, I was really wondering what he was going to _do_ with it.

"Oh, this? Oh it's a broken EKG. Doesn't pick up any electrical activity, doc says. He told me to throw it away; no one around here knows how to fix 'em."

"I… actually have a knack for things like that." I volunteered quickly. "I'll fix it for you."

"Gee thanks." The nurse said without a hint of genuine sentiment, and he all but tossed the thing at me.

I had to hold back my grin for as long as I could until he was completely gone. I simply could not believe my luck that morning… Things were really looking up for my plans.

"Jesus, Hannibal. You look like the cat that got the cream. What the hell do you need a broken EKG for?"

"Oh… Bedelia… just trust me. This little device has just saved me a whole world of trouble."

"Right… okay. And by the way, I didn't get the chance to congratulate you yet."

"Hmm? About what?"

A smirk came across her otherwise flat, uninteresting features.

"About your little mate. I can smell that Omega on you from a mile away. He's obviously smitten, _Nurse Nightingale_."

My grin morphed into a smirk upon hearing her comment.

"He and I are not mates, Bedelia. But things are looking well, in that direction. So thank you."

"You're welcome. And… good luck, with your plan."

I nodded my gratitude to my friend before beginning to take my leave.

And just as I was going to exit through the back door, I heard Bedelia call out,

"And for God's sake, be careful."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Progress seemed to escape me that day at work. My memory and attention seemed non-existent, my eyes not really reading any of the files I put in front of my face. All of my nervous energy made me feel completely useless, and I ended up staying in my office for most of the day to avoid anyone seeing me in such a state.

Paperwork that I'd ignored for weeks finally got filled out however; that much I could do.

Once I'd thought through my plan a hundred times, I finally calmed myself enough to leave my office. I made a beeline to Cell Block C, where I would find an integral piece of my plan: Prisoner 21ADC-21924; also known as Alana.

"Alana. I have good news."

The dark haired little girl hoisted herself off the springy cot in her cell and walked toward me, a wary look in her eye.

"Yeah? Finally fit me into your schedule?"

"Now now, is that any way to talk to someone who's about to give you what you wish? A way out of here?"

Alana scoffed. "Yeah? How?"

"Just as you said; you're going out in the laundry cart."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

That night I found Will in Jakov's apartment, furiously typing away on one of the many computers in my friend's 'dungeon.' The least surprising was by far the sight of Barbara wrapped loosely around Jakov's shoulders as he watched Will work.

"That's it! How the hell did you figure that out? I've been working on that hard drive for months!"

"You had the correct decrypting key all along, but you forgot to install it from the repository. It's an easy mistake to make."

Jakov looked across the room at me, his head shaking with disbelief.

" _Where'd_ you say you got this kid again?"

"Smart isn't he?" I avoided answering the question. "Jakov, I've got some things I'd like to discuss with you; over dinner, perhaps?"

"Awww shucks… 'been a _long while_ since I've been on a date; with an _Alpha_ no less. Can I bring the snake?" The Beta mocked in jest.

Will smiled upon hearing the joke and he got up to leave with me.

"I missed you." He said quietly once he'd gotten close enough that only I would hear it. I put my arm around him and he turned it into a short embrace before turning back to Jakov.

"Supper's in an hour. I'm making mashed potatoes and gravy."

I was a bit surprised at Will's increasing assertiveness. It was a pleasant surprise, of course. It was good to see Will coming out his shell a little and making his own decisions.

 **...XoXoXo...**

Once inside my apartment (which was quickly becoming _our_ apartment) Will and I set to work making the potatoes.

"How was work?" He asked while lighting the gas burner with a match.

"Fairly uneventful, all things considered. I fully plan on facilitating a jail break tomorrow, however. So that ought to be interesting, in the very least."

Will's countenance changed a little, from confident to uneasy in a split second.

"Are you… are you confident you can get away with it? I mean… what if something happens to you?"

"Your concern means a lot to me, Will, but all will be fine. You and Jakov will stay here and execute the remote-access portion of the plan, while I get Gragon out of the prison. Then we'll regroup at a hotel north of here, and plan our escape from the city."

"How are you going to get him out?" I could tell Will was becoming quite stressed and worried at the thought of all the ramifications our plan entailed.

I took his hand in mine for a moment, and got him to look me in the eyes.

"Will, please do not burden yourself… I've been preparing for this moment for a long time. I know how the system works and I've behaved myself long enough that I am _far_ off the radar of suspicion. My superiors will be running around like birds without heads, completely clueless, and in that time we will be leaving the city to a place far, far away where they cannot get to us."

Will nodded, obviously trying to believe my words of assurance, but not fully capable of doing so due to his trust issues.

"I still don't like it. It's not that I don't want to trust you, I just… I can't lose you."

My heart skipped a beat upon hearing my sweet Omega say that.

"You won't, my dearest. We'll get through this just fine, and when we are rid of this filthy city I have every intention of courting you."

"I would like that." Summoning a bit of boldness Will scooted up to his tip-toes and planted a kiss on my cheek. It was much longer than a simple kiss, and the close proximity to Will's warm body and sweet scent caused arousal to spike within me.

"Will, I… I think I should focus on cutting these potatoes now… Jakov will be here soon."

I attempted to shift my attention to the task at hand, but Will was having none of it.

His small frame squeezed in between me and the counter, his back facing me. He began to grind the small of his back against my crotch, intentionally stirring my arousal further.

The scent of aroused Omega filled my kitchen and it mingled with my own. I was so tempted to sweep this Omega off his feet and to just take him; right there on my countertop. My mind was already envisioning the potatoes rolling every which way as I had my way with the Omega bent in half, being split open on my enormous cock. But I couldn't. I had to be delicate with Will. I had to treat him with the love and respect he deserved.

But it seemed like his hormones were telling me another story.

"Will…" I backed up a little, trying indicate that he should stop grinding his clothed ass against my fully hard, aching cock.

"I think you greatly underestimate what your scent… what _you_ do to me, sweet one." I took a shaky breath to ground myself.

"I… I need you. Please… _fuck_ me."

A shudder of lust rang through me, shaking me to my very core.

"W-We need to be careful, if I am to behave myself around you."

My Omega turned and smirked up at me.

"What if I _don't want_ you to behave?"

I gulped, realizing that Will was most likely experiencing a drastic hormone shift; it often happened after an unsuccessful Omega birth; the body produced sex pheromones and desires to satiate the mate, so the Alpha would not be as upset about losing pups. Although Will would not be fertile for a few months yet, it was a way for mates to strengthen their bond after a loss, and to prepare for the next fertility cycle. I had to look at it from a scientific standpoint, I knew. Or else this was going to go downhill very, very quickly.

"As much as I would love to be inside you; make love to you, and even claim you, I cannot. The biggest reason is that you are still _healing_." I referred as delicately as I could to the condition Will's body was in after giving birth such a short time ago. I knew better than to bring up the information about the sex drive hormones compensating for loss. Omegas rarely liked Alphas saying anything about an Omega's bodily functions; it was a well-known point of contention between typical mates.

Will looked down, almost ashamedly, and I took his chin in my hand, carefully tilting his head upwards so that he would look at me.

"I do not wish for you to be embarrassed, nor ashamed. But I want our first time to be perfect, and painless. I don't want to hurt you, my angel. I would never forgive myself. And… before you came along, I have not been with anyone, sexually or romantically, for a very, _very_ long time. And as an Alpha I am afraid of what I may do to you if I get too excited. Do you understand?"

Will nodded, though a little sadly.

"I _am_ sorry. But it has to be that way."

He turned away from me, and it was with a dose of both relief and sadness that I noticed his aroused scent fading away.

 **...XoXoXo...**

Later, at the dinner table, Jakov and Will got lost in conversation about hacking, and technology, while I struggled to even appear as though I was keeping up with it. The things that boy knew… It really made me wonder the same thing Jakov verbalized earlier: where _did_ Will come from?

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

After dinner, Jakov and I discussed our plans briefly, focusing mostly on his end of the plan. I made sure not to mention the name 'Alana' in any point of our conversation, lest the wide-eyed Omega sitting next to me become worried about one more thing that he needn't burden himself over.

Jakov left late, and I was very tired. But I could tell from Will's scent that he was still feeling sexually frustrated. He'd excused himself to shower earlier, and I could still hear the water running in the bathroom. My cock twitched a little at the idea of joining Will in the shower for a quick round of frottage; something quick and pleasurable to take the edge off for the both of us.

I tapped on the bathroom door, hoping Will would allow me to join him in the shower.

"Come in…" came the muffled reply and I didn't miss a beat before opening the door and shucking off my clothing.

Will had seen me naked before, of course, so I didn't think he would mind seeing it again.

Just as I was about to peel back the shower curtain, however, my sensitive nose caught whiff of the sharp tang of distress mixed in Will's scent.

"Will? Are you alright?" I asked before moving an inch.

A heard a light sob; it was almost drowned out by the sound of the cascading water.

"Will, darling? Can I… Can I come in?"

I first listened for any objections and hearing none, I ventured inside the cast iron bathtub, closing the shower curtain behind me.

"Will, what is the matter?" I asked upon finding a curled up Omega on the floor of the tub. He looked cold, his lips blue and quivering.

"I… I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you… I… should have never have tried to run away from those Alphas. They told me I could stay with them as long as I kept bearing pups. I.. I ran away because they wouldn't stop hurting me! If I hadn't been so stupid… If I'd just been braver - _tougher_ \- I wouldn't be in this mess. I would be with my Alphas and… They would use me like _real_ Alphas are _supposed_ to! They would keep me full of pups, and happy."

"Oh… Will…" Despite the fact that this was the last thing I expected to see Will doing in the shower, I instantly felt sympathy for him. I knelt down and scooped him up from the cold tub's floor and let the warm water and my body heat bring up his temperature some. Then I turned off the water and stepped out, carrying my beautiful boy with me. I wrapped him in towels and set him on my bed, tucking him in with plenty of blankets as I'd done many a time when we first met.

"My sweet Will… You are the most perfect Omega an Alpha could ask for… You are smart; brilliant in fact, and you are worth so much more to me than just a vessel to carry pups. If that is what you would like, later, I respect that decision, of course. But that is hardly all you are good for, my sweet. Please, I need you to know that."

Will sniffed and nodded. Tears were still pouring down his face and I did my best to wipe them away with a gentle swipe of a finger across his velvety cheek.

"Why… why are you so good to me? I've never had anyone… an _Alpha_ no less… treat me like you do. The other Alphas treated me like a toy; like their bitch. They would… use my hole whenever they wanted, even when I was sleeping. They would keep me knotted almost constantly, taking turns on me and they would… _hit_ me, break my bones just for fun. Why… why are you so nice to me? I… must be so _ugly_ to you… I don't deserve it."

My heart broke upon hearing my precious Omega say those things. Hearing details about what only my imagination had barely dared to fathom made my stomach churn.

"Will… My sweet, perfect, beautiful Will… I care very deeply for you, and I have since the moment I found you. You mean so much to me, and I'm very sorry that what those monsters did made you think that you are unworthy of love or praise, or kindness. Those thoughts couldn't be further from the truth."

Will smiled a little, but the tears just kept falling.

"Please, Will… please do not let the monsters define you. You are an angel, ripped from the sky and tormented by demons. But they didn't break your wings, darling. You can still fly."

Another sniff came from Will, and an even bigger smile this time.

"That was… most definitely cheesy, Hannibal...But… but _thank you_. You mean a lot to me too…and I… I think I might be falling in love with you."

"That is good to hear, because I think I may be falling in love with you as well."

I placed a small, chaste kiss on Will's unsuspecting lips. He froze, initially, but he soon tried to reciprocate and I had to end it before it became heated. _Fuck_ , the things that boy did to me….

"Let's get some sleep, Will. Tomorrow is a new day, and it promises to be full of excitement. It will all be fine. And you'll stay here and look after Jakov, yes? Make sure he sticks to the plan."

I gave Will another little kiss, this time on the cheek, but he was already falling asleep.

That night I had a very difficult time falling asleep. My mind was full of not only the next day's plans, but also images of the awful, unspeakable abuse my Omega went through. My stomach felt uneasy most of the night as my subconscious fretted over the horrible things done to Will in the past. He'd been beaten and raped countless times, and yet he was still so innocent; so good natured and even trusting, taking into consideration all the ill-will shown towards him by other Alphas.

All I knew for sure was that no further harm was ever to come to my sweet Will. Not even if there were risk for my own life; not even over my own dead body.


	6. Free

"I really must go, my love. I'm sorry. I will see you tonight. We'll all meet at the checkpoint tonight, yes? Just bring the duffle bags I packed and we'll be all set."

Understandably, my touch-starved and emotionally-attached Omega was reluctant to let me go that morning. He had woken up acting horny, almost as though he was in the beginning stages of heat. I was hardly in the right frame of mind to reciprocate his erotic advances however. My nerves had gotten the best of me for the last twelve hours, and I admit that it made me a rather useless Alpha that morning. If it were any other day I would have been happy to frot and fellate my horny young Will and sate him for the day.

But until Gragon was out of prison and we were all safe and sound at the checkpoint, that was all I could think about.

We stood at the door of my apartment, Jakov somewhere in the living room, graciously ignoring our conversation.

"I'm worried about you…. What if your plan doesn't work? What if you get caught? I'll…. I'll never see you again. You could get killed, I-"

"Will… Please look at me." I tilted his chin upwards and when he finally made eye contact with me I kissed him. He gasped an adorable, little gasp against my lips.

When I pulled away from our light contact, I spoke in a calm, sure voice; it was the opposite of what I felt inside, but I had to be strong for my future mate.

"Everything will be alright. I promise." I gave him another quick kiss on the lips to seal my promise, misguided though well intentioned as it was.

And with that I took my leave, entrusting my ever-so-tolerant Beta friend with the care of my young, brave Omega.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Once outside in the pungent, borderline-toxic air, it took me to some time to realize that large masses of the crowds were not really walking anywhere, but simply standing in the streets, staring at the digital screens hanging from street awnings. The screens were rarely on, and were typically used for public announcements from the BCA. The average announcement was largely ignored by civilians, and it made my stomach lurch with a sense of foreboding, seeing all these people stopped dead in their tracks, attentions glued to the screens.

Overcome with dread and curiosity, I peeked over the crowd to read the television screen. Since the speakers had long since burned out, all the viewers relied on the subtitles scrolling across the screen and the main headline splayed across the top.  
It looked like a normal news broadcast, but the headline read:

"President assassinated by alleged rebellion force member; all negotiations to reduce the City quarantine, have ceased."

Other details followed that message, but I didn't stick around for the rest of it. I was almost late for work, and surely the crowds were only going to worsen, possibly turning into a mob, even, and I certainly did not want to get involved in that.

Given this new information, my mind swam with the varying possibilities, regarding what the social climate condition would be for the next twelve hours. The plan was to leave the city with Will, Gragon, and Jakov before midnight. But what first seemed like divine appointment was now starting to feel like a fateful, dreaded end.

Several months ago I heard about the negotiations to reduce the quarantine: to let the people who were least affected by radiation to be brought to a less-toxic area for decontamination and eventual rehabilitation. It was a pipe dream, really; there was no way the government would let go of their best workers; the only people keeping the agriculture and economy alive. In fact, it wouldn't have surprised me one bit if the person who assassinated the President was not even remotely connected to the Rebellion, and was only labeled as such in order to have an excuse to cease negotiations. It brought into question the fact that the President was even dead, to be honest. It had been decades since anything remotely unbiased and universally true had graced the airwaves, and I felt certain they weren't about to change that anytime soon.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Upon arrival at the gates of the BCA, I made sure not to look guarded; I kept my hands away from the left breast pocket that contained the meds Bedelia gave me, and I acted as nonchalant as I could, carrying my briefcase, the one that contained the broken EKG I'd be using later.

"'Morning…." I gave my usual greeting to the final guard at the doors, and I was careful not to make eye contact. I ignored the bead of sweat forming on my brow, and by the time I made it into the main entrance the sweat dripped into my eye, making it sting unbearably. I somehow resisted digging my knuckles into my eye until I reached a more private corridor, knowing that making any sudden movements could trigger an unwanted reaction from the admitting security.

The level of nervousness wracking my brain and body was approaching a dangerous level, I knew. The thermal sensors and the lasers were bound to pick up on my increased body temperature and heart rate. I tried to concentrate, in my office, hoping to center myself at least a little. I had approximately four hours until I could initiate the first part of my plan.

I decided to go to my place of rest, in my mind; a so-called 'happy place.' Some might call it meditating.

 **...XoXoXo...**

 _The sky was blue for the first time in six months. Everyone in the valley was outside, enjoying the beautiful, exceptionally rare weather._

 _I laid a blanket down on the tufty grass, and when I sat on it I felt how the sunlight had already begun to warm the scratchy, wool-polyester fabric._  
 _The breeze pulled at my long hair and whisked it into my face, I smiled as I realized how ridiculously disorderly my hair was about to become._

 _The door to the Winnebago swung open, and I shielded my eyes to watch the approaching figure descend the short set of steps to join me._  
 _Not too surprisingly, my mind envisioned Will, my sweet, perfect Omega, carrying himself with a confident, almost carefree swagger. He practically leapt into my arms unexpectedly. We wrestled for a short while on the blanket; a friendly, goofy bout of rough-housing; something that was far too rare a sight, coming from me._

 _It ended in a kiss, Will capturing my lips as soon as he got the chance. I hummed against his lips as he smiled against mine. Still feeling rambunctious, Will bounced up and away, a gleam of mischief in his eyes._

 _"Are you…" I began, but before I could finish, Will began to run, his playful laugh just barely audible over the now gusting winds._  
 _"Come back here…" I insisted while running after him. He and I had never been quite this playful together, but I knew it was normal for young men his age to like to taunt an Alpha; get them to run after them; to capture before conquering. It was a game, and one that I'd never played before._

 _"You think you can outrun me?" I taunted as I nearly stepped on Will's bare heels. My legs were far longer than his, and he had barely gotten a head start._  
 _"I can try-Ooof!" Will's playful banter cut short when he tripped over an old exposed tree root. His chest hit the ground hard, but not hard enough to truly injure him._  
 _"Will… Are you alright?" I stooped down to check on him, and instead of finding a hurt Omega, I found a laughing, slightly embarrassed one._

 _"Yeah… I'm fine… Jeeze you'd think the ground would have felt a bit better than a slab of concrete…"_  
 _I helped him up from the ground and immediately kissed him, resuming our earlier coupling, before my Omega had decided to turn it into a chase._

 _"Mmmm… God, Hannibal… we just got done having sex all weekend I would think you'd be sick of me by now."_

 _"Never." I promised with more licks and kisses along his neck, paying special attention to his mating bite, right where he loved it._  
 _"Mmm… Maybe my pregnancy hormones are affecting you too…" He said in a coy, satirical way._

 _"Perhaps… Or, perhaps you are just irresistible."_  
 _We weren't completely sure if he was pregnant yet, but I knew that my mate smelled different in the last few weeks following an especially intense heat. He smelled like vanilla and caramelized sugar, and now the lightest tinge of citrus could be detected as well, bringing me to suspect that he was with child._

 _"I love you, you know that, right?"_

 _"Of course." I assured with a deep kiss. His lips tasted like the sweetest honey in the world. I felt as though I could kiss him forever. There was a stirring in my groin, a miracle considering how much sex we'd been having over the last few weeks, and not to mention my age._

 _"Mmmm... I think you're horny... Are you horny right now?"_

 _"Yes." I confessed in a gasp against his perfect mouth. "It is incredible... I simply can't seem to get enough of you, my adorable, perfect Omega."_

 _"You know, we just had sex like, an hour ago."_

 _"No, we just_ _made love_ _an hour ago. But if you're not in the mood, I'm sure I can wait."_

 _"I didn't say that... I love it when you fuck me."_

 _"Oh you do?" I said coyly._

 _"Yes... I really do. In fact I think I want you to fuck me right now..."_

 _"Again? So soon?"_

 _"Yes. Come on... follow me..." He took my hand, drawing me in with those bedroom eyes and led me towards our camper; our shared living space; the only thing we had to our name save for our love._

 **...XoXoXo...**

Things were just about to progress; the story about to move further. I could tell that this fantasy could go on forever; I could eternally dream about making love to Will.  
But it would never happen in reality unless I snapped myself out of this daydream and got to work.

The real world welcomed me with its usual cruelty, bringing it scents, sounds, and burdens to again overwhelm me. But my little meditation session helped. Suddenly the weight of the task set before me seemed more manageable.

First, a trip to the cafeteria again.

The lunch hall was just starting to fill with staff members who were on break. Luckily, my intended target was just entering the double door from the opposite side. I knelt down and pretended to tie my shoe, nonchalantly delaying the time that I would get in line for food.

"Dr. Hansen." I acknowledged respectfully just as I joined the lunch line. The plastic trays were so old and worn that they had lost any sheen to them, leaving behind a rough, flaky surface, but they appeared to be clean. I stood alongside Dr. Hansen, practically elbow-to-elbow, waiting for the right opportunity to make my move.

"Dr. Lecter. How are you?" He asked, not really caring how I responded. I could have told him that the sky was falling, or that he was about to die, and I doubt he would have registered it in that overworked brain of his. I rather liked Doctor Hansen, compared to many of the other doctors and employees. It was a shame that he stood in the way of my plans.

"I'm doing well. I don't suppose they have any chicken this time 'round, do you?"

I waited for the good doctor to glance up from his morose slouch to look at the steam table, and it was then that I did it: quick as a flash I poured about half of the solution that Bedelia gave me from a tiny vial I'd been balancing, carefully hidden in my hand.

Most of the liquid landed right on top of the bowl of sugar-free jello, which I happened to know was a favorite of his; he would most certainly eat it, even before the rest of his food.

"No, I don't think we're that lucky." Dr. Hansen responded, but I barely heard him. My pulse was too busy thrumming in my ears for me to hear anything else. Before I could stop myself, before I could hesitate for a single millisecond, I swiftly yanked his ID badge off his lab coat. He didn't appear to notice, and I quickly palmed the ID card into my long sleeve shirt so he wouldn't see it.

I was not even sure what I said to him in reply, but I exited the lunch line and sat down, staring contentiously at the pile of slime on my plate. It used to be corn, I concluded; pulverized beyond recognition and mixed with mushy, boiled oats to made it stick to your ribs a little more effectively.

Chatter and gossip about the President's assassination rippled through the cafeteria like a tide pool wave, but again, I barely heard it. Tunnel vision afflicted my brain like I've never experienced before.

Dr. Hansen sat down at a different table shortly after I started picking at the pile of yellow-grey goo. I knew the arsenic would take a few minutes to take full effect, but I still found myself staring in the man's direction for some time.

In order to not arouse suspicion I eventually stared intently at the pile of corn mush on the plate. After a few second of staring, the lumps seemed to make faces at me; like they were taunting me...

Suddenly a loud clatter of metalware falling to the tile floor echoed through the mess hall, and the sound of wretching soon followed. I looked up just in time to see Dr. Hansen stooped over, vomiting up his green sugar free jello all over the floor. His color was ashen and quite grave looking, but I gave him a small enough dose so that in all likelihood he wouldn't die; he would just be sick for a few days. And all I really needed was a few hours.

Leaving my tray behind, I walked quickly towards the next phase of my plan: prisoner 21ADC-21924.

 **...XoXoXo...**

The laundry cart was easy to get. While dressed yet again in chincy scrubs, I nonchalantly wheeled the large, canvas vat of dirty linens to Alana's cell.

Dr. Hansen's ID badge got me into the cell, since I hardly wanted it on record that it was I who entered. If this escape plan failed, I couldn't afford to be fired, black-listed, or worse... _imprisoned_.

The scrawny Omega was lying under the blanket on the bed, just as I'd instructed her to do. I methodically wrapped her up into the linens, creating an eighty-pound bundle for me to carry.

The challenge was to make it look like I wasn't carrying any weight at all. If anyone was looking at the camera feed, a flaw in my performance would be detrimental. I kept my head down, hoping the camera couldn't see my face, and lifted the bundle of linens (and Omega) like it weighed nothing at all. I plopped it gently but swiftly in the cart with the rest of the linens, and whispered,

"Don't move a muscle."

The cart was moved to the loading dock, where it would stay for several hours until the linen service arrived. There were fewer high tech cameras on the dock, so I took a risk and spoke directly to the lump in the linens, where I knew Alana was doing her best to stay still.

"Stay here. You'll get loaded into the linen truck and once you get to the laundry facility you should be able to outrun them and be free."

"Thank you." I heard Alana hiss from under the cloth.

"Don't thank me yet..." I murmured under my breath as I left, quickly heading to the next stop: the morgue.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

"Oh, Terence, it's good to see you." I made sure not to seem rushed when making my way into the room where the BCA morgue staff processed dead bodies. I was back into my normal clothes, labcoat included. I felt a little more like my composed self when I was wearing my own clothes; the scrubs this time had been too roomy and I felt almost naked due to the drafty situation.

"Doctor." Terence acknowledged briefly before getting on to more important matters. "Don't you have heads to shrink? Usually you're on the other side, _you know_ … with the _living_ people."

Terence was a big fellow; a Beta, but still very big; in every sense of the word. He was typically good natured, but he was certainly not going to take any bull shit from me.

"Oh yes, I'm here to fill in for Doctor Hansen. He's sick."

"Is he now?" He sounded halfway to skeptical.

"Yes, he was vomiting all over the cafeteria at lunch. Amazing you didn't hear about it. Seems he came down with a nasty case of food poisoning.

"Hmmm… seems to be making its rounds… didn't you just call in for that same thing last week?"

"Yes I did; good memory."

There was an extremely long pause and I did my best to portray that I did not feel awkward; putting on a casual air was not unusual for me. But the additional nervousness gnawing away at my stomach made for an exceedingly torturous thirty seconds.

"Well..." He shrugged, giving up his suspicions and replacing it with apathy.

"Well I guess you'd better fill me in quick on how all this works. I haven't worked morgue duty since I got here. It's been about six years."

"It's pretty straight forward." Terence said casually. "The staff bring in a stiff, we hook 'em up to our machines to confirm death, and once they're declared dead by a doctor, that would be you, by the way, they get shuffled off to the truck out back."

"Ah, I see. And you'll be assisting me, I take it? If there are any dead bodies today?" I tried not to sound like I knew for a fact that there would be at least one "dead body" rolling through the morgue, in just a few short hours.

"That's the plan. But I usually just sit at the desk over there and chill until it's time to cart them off to the truck. It's not like the dead bodies are going to give you any trouble..."

I attempted a chuckle, but it sounded more like a wimpy attempt to clear my throat.

"Sounds all well and good. I've got some paperwork I need to catch up on anyway, so-"

My sentence was interrupted by the shrill cry of a telephone ring. I gulped, not knowing just what kind of phone call this could be. I hoped it was merely a call to inform Terence of Dr. Hansen's sudden ailment.

Terence answered the phone, bereft of enthusiasm. He listened to the speaker for a short while before looking over at me. His eyes were lazy and tired, and from that I assumed that it was a routine phone call, and not one that I had to worry about.

"Yes... Yes... Doctor Lecter is here to assume Dr. Hansen's duties. What? Well... I guess he never _said_ that you told him to report for duty here. They guy's probably sick of talking to patients, maybe he needs to be around some dead bodies for a while, the fuck do I know? Alright... alright yes sir... I'll tell him. _Buh-bye_."

I stood there expectantly, hoping to the non-existent God in heaven that I was not about to be reassigned.

"The boss says you can stay here till midnight. He's called in another medical examiner but they won't be here until tomorrow morning. We need to turn the refrigeration units on in case the staff need to hold bodies here overnight."

"Sounds good." I tamped down my relief, knowing that I had at least another six hours until Gragon would be wheeling up on a body cart, waiting for me to declare him dead. I still had plenty of time in which I could get transferred, or caught somehow. I'd done an excellent job of covering my tracks, but I knew the moment I let my guard down that would be the moment I make a mistake.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

"That's three now; my word, I don't remember processing so many dead bodies back when I first started here..."

"The prisoner count has probably quadrupled since you got here six years ago; it's a simple matter of statistics." I could tell that Terence felt a great deal of pride, using such big words. He may have actually read a book sometime in the last decade.

"Yes, it must be... You must get tired of hauling around dead bodies."

"It's a job; gets me a decent apartment and food every week so I have no complaints. Besides, nothing could be worse than the time we were without an M.E. for a weekend and the refrigeration units failed. In the morning we came back to a putrid smell that didn't wash out for weeks."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

The rest of the afternoon and evening went much like this; I used my faulty EKG that I secretly switched with the working one, just so Terence would not notice later that it was a little different looking. (It's not like I was ever going to be able to find the exact model...) I could tell a dead body from a living one, and every single one brought in that day were very clearly, most definitely dead, regardless of whether or not my EKG monitor worked.

I felt a little calmer as the hours passed, but when late evening approached, I became increasingly anxious again. I knew that soon, Gragon would take the pills I gave him, and in short order the guards would find him actively seizing and foaming at the mouth, followed by a catatonic state that would most certainly fool the guards into thinking he was dead.

Just as I ran through the plan in my head for the millionth time that day, I heard a familiar pounding sound on the morgue door. Half a second later I heard the sound of the metal cart scraping along the swinging doors as the cart forced them open: another body.

My stomach lurched and I set my jaw as I saw the dark-skinned feet protruding from the split in the doors, followed by the rest of the body, still dressed in grey prisoner scrubs.

The face was completely overgrown with a wildly unruly beard, making a first glance nearly impossible to make a positive ID. But I still knew; this was my lost-lost friend: Jack Crawford; more commonly known by his hacker name: Gragon.

"Fresh off the block, doc." The maximum security guard was thankfully a different man than the one I passed the day before, when I planted the pills in the porridge.

"This one's been in the can for a long time. Hasn't seen daylight in years."

"Cause of death?" I asked once the frog in my throat had cleared.

"The fuck do I know?" He said harshly. "The dude just keeled over, was foaming at the mouth. He's probably got a _brain tumor_ , like half the other alphas his age."  
"Yes, well alright. Thank you for bringing him in. Have a nice night."

"Yeah." The guard scoffed sarcastically. "This dude's the last of the rebellion leaders; the max security ward's empty now; tomorrow I find out if I'm out of a job or if I get reassigned to real work; hard labor. What am I going to tell my mate, huh? So no; tonight is _not_ going to be a nice night. See ya."

The man unintentionally projected saliva onto my face while he chewed me out, and I wisely waited until he was out of sight before wiping it away with my labcoat sleeve.

"Well." Terence said, nonplussed. "Bad day for _both_ guys."  
He glanced briefly at Jack's "dead" body, but before he looked for very long I pushed the cart further into the morgue, hoping not to arouse suspicion.

"I'll be done with this one in a few. Like he said; probably brain tumor."

In addition to proclaiming death, I was tasked with finding a general cause of death, in the hopes of being able to identify viral infections before they would wipe out the entire BCA division. A year ago, a viral meningitis strain, because it was missed in the morgue, went rampant for six weeks and killed more than a hundred people; forty of them were BCA.

Despite my increased nervousness, I had to go through the motions: I took a quick skin scraping from the heel of Jack's hand using a flat razor blade and added the test solution to the piece of paper that held flakes of skin. I watched the paper turn a purple hue, signifying a negative meningitis result. The broken EKG was placed and I watched as the "flatline" rode endlessly across the screen for about twenty seconds, and said:

"Yes, dead as nails."

I pretended to fill out some paperwork for the usual amount of time that I took for the previous bodies, and tried not to grow increasingly nervous that Terence was suddenly very interested in my work. He left me alone for the entire shift and _now_ he wanted to watch? His studiousness could not have come at a worse time.

I glanced at my watch... three minutes since he'd been brought in. That meant Gragon had gone without breathing for roughly five minutes.

"Terence." I said, trying not to sound rushed.

"I am feeling a bit peckish. Think you could go sneak us something from the cafeteria? I've got things covered, here."

"Sure thing." He took the hint, probably assuming that he was simply annoying me; doctors do get annoyed so easily, it seems.

The instant he turned his back, I turned mine, and I pulled out the syringe I had ready and waiting in my pocket. Quick as a flash, the cap was off, and the needle plunged into my friend's neck.

Terence left without looking behind him, and for that, I was grateful. I had about ten minutes before he would be back.

"Come on..." I said under my breath. "Come on, you stupid Alpha." I goaded my unconscious friend.

Seeing nothing happen, I felt for a carotid pulse. It was thready, but still there.

"Breathe, you idiot." I said sharply, yet still quietly. I had nothing in the way of lifesaving medical equipment; this was a morgue after all. Seeing no other option at the moment, I reacted the only way I knew how. I tilted his hairy head back, pinched his nose, quickly sealed my lips around his, and gave a good puff of air, hopefully into his lungs, and not his stomach.

I repeated the action a few more times and checked for a pulse again. This time I had to feel around for a few seconds before realizing that there was none.

" _Damn you_ , Jack." I said almost too loudly before getting into position to start some emergency chest compressions.

Half a second before my first attempt at CPR, I saw a twitch. Followed by a sudden rise of the chest, followed by a gasping sound.

"Oh... Thank heavens..." I sighed, looking around self consciously, making sure no one was watching. I was grateful that there we were already positioned in the camera's blindspot.

"H-Hannibal? Is that you?"

"Yes, yes it is." I had no time. "We're running a bit short on time though, I need you to keep pretending to be dead, alright? Just lie still."

The cart was heavy, but luckily all the wheels worked just fine and I followed the long, narrow hallway out to the loading dock, where Terence had brought the other bodies earlier.

Just then, I heard a loud clatter and shouts. The shouting was coming from the loading dock.

I smiled a little, knowing that my plan was working: Alana was getting caught trying to escape. The plan was to have Jakov and Will deactivate the cameras in the hallway, making it appear as though it was technical malfunction. A technician would realize the cell door that was sitting vacant, door wide open, and send out an alert for an escaped prisoner. The first place they would look? The most likely route of escape: the loading dock.

Everything was going according to plan.

 **...XoXoXo...**

I huffed and puffed a little while pushing the cart seemingly uphill, down the hallway and over a big bump in the middle of the door threshold to outside.  
I made a beeline from the door to the "stiff truck," parked practically right in front of the door, and glanced over to witness the major amount of hubbub occurring over the feisty Omega that had just been discovered in the linen cart.

"Let go of me, you asshole!" A shrill cry rang out from the small girl, yelling with all her might to the Beta guard who found her there, and was attempting to apprehend her.

During her struggle, she made brief eye contact with me, and I could tell that she knew: this was my plan all along: for her to be the diversion; the distraction so no one would pay any mind to the unauthorized Doctor driving away with the truck of dead bodies.

"You! You bastard!" She screamed. "I will kill you!"

I diverted my eyes from the situation and continued to load the cart into the truck.

"Alright. I'm going to get you off of this cart, and then we will go. Sorry about the accommodations..." I whispered to my old friend just before dragging him ungracefully off of the cart and onto the floor of the truck.

"Hannibal." I heard him groan quietly once I'd set him down.

"Yes?" I knew I had no time.

"You _are_ a bastard."

I smiled, knowing that my friend was truly back.

I walked out of the box truck's cargo compartment just in time to see the small, scrawny Omega bite the Beta on the arm, hard, and tear away like a bat out of hell.  
Well, would you look at that... she got away. I thought to myself bemusedly. I doubted she would make it past the twelve-foot concrete barricade, or through the main gate with the twenty guards, but I had to give her credit for tenacity.

The drop-down door pulled closed like an orchestra of rusted violins, but once it was secured, I was on the move.

The truck drove slowly over all the potholes and through the muddy gravel road, and I tried my best to not look too rushed. I saw a gaggle of guards running full speed through the sloppy, muddy terrain, trying to catch up with the escaped prisoner. As far as scapegoats went, it looked like I'd chosen very wisely indeed.  
I stopped at the rear gate and showed my ID badge, my real one, to the guard.

The guard was hardly even looking at me, he was too busy watching the eventful chase across the lot. Without a second glance he waved me through, and I felt elated as we passed the final gauntlet.  
Now, we were free.

I pulled the truck over at the nearest convenient location out on a service road, and I opened the cargo door.  
Jack was already standing, waiting for me to get him out of there. I thought I saw a smile from behind all the facial hair, but it was hard to tell. He hopped out of the truck, and he embraced me. He smelled like he hadn't showered in months, and his hair tickled me all over, but I allowed the embrace all the same.

"It's good to see you, after all these years." I said, sounding congested while refusing to breathe through my nose.

"You too, Hann. Thanks for busting me out."

"No trouble." He let go of me and I let out the air I'd been holding in my lungs.

"Yeah, I know, I need a bath. You got a change of clothes for me?"

"Afraid not. But I'll do you one better. Jakov's got a hotel room waiting for us uptown."

"Jakov's still around?"

"Now more than ever. Though he is still living with a his spinal cord injury, half a kidney, one lung and a third of a liver, so the 'how' is a little bit of a mystery."

"Pretty sure that guy could be missing his _brain_ and he'd _still_ be taking freelance gigs."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Gragon and I showed up to the checkpoint hotel all smiles and jokes. He still smelled like a heady, unwashed Alpha but his mind was still sharp as it ever was. Other than his smell and his looks, I could hardly tell that he had been in isolation for seven years.

Will was sitting on one of the beds in the hotel room, looking at me wide-eyed and relieved the moment I walked in the door.

Gragon hesitantly followed me inside, and I could tell that he was a little ashamed of his appearance, and all too eager to clean up in the bathroom. He quickly excused himself into the bathroom before any introductions could be made.

"Hannibal! You made it!" Will was in my arms in a flash.

"Jakov and I were really worried. Did... did everything work? We disabled the cameras remotely just like you said and-"

"It all worked perfectly, Will. We're safe here for now. Gragon is getting cleaned up and we'll be leaving the city soon."

Jakov was sitting in his wheelchair, looking at me with a combination of awe and skepticism.

"You heard the news right?" He said to me from across the room.

"President's been assassinated. The whole city is practically on lock down. They're not letting any civilians out of the city; not now, and probably not for a few _years_."

"Yes, but don't worry. I've adapted some of the plan, and I've got us an even better way out of here."

"Really?" Will smelled and sounded frightened; nervous that all of this success was at risk of turning sour.

"Yes, really. You're just going to have to trust me."

"We do." Jakov assured me.

"Good. Because it's not going to be a very fun ride."

For the time being, I knew that I had to comfort my Omega. He smelled faintly of despair and mourning, as though he had lost hope at some point in the afternoon while I was away. And there was no doubt that such a tumultuous emotional roller coaster exhausted the poor boy.

I cuddled with him on the far bed; platonically, since Jakov was still present and Gragon was bound to finish in the bathroom eventually. Will sniffed and practically bathed in my comforting scent for a long while, whimpering here and there, making adorable cuddling noises.

At least an hour after Gragon had disappeared into the hotel bathroom, he emerged, shaved and shirtless, looking very much like his old self, except far skinnier. He was still tall and broad shouldered, but his face was gaunt, and his collar bone and ribcage were easily visible through his skin.

"Feeling better?" I asked from across the room. I was currently attempting to detangle myself from my clingy Omega.

"Much..." Jack said with a hesitance in his voice.

"Is... this... your _mate_?" He sounded almost disapproving, looking over my Omega like one would appraise a mare or a steer.

" _Future_ mate, yes." Will said a little defensively.

"Jack, this is Will. Will, this is Jack, also known as Gragon."

"Nice to meet you." Will said without an ounce of genuine feeling.

"Good to see you made it!" Jakov broke the awkward stare-down that was occurring between Alpha and Omega.

"Jakov, my old friend. I heard you got locked up trying to come see me a few years ago."

"Yeah... Hannibal's hair-brained scheme got my thrown in the can for a few days, but it was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Well hopefully we have all the time in the world now, I'm sure once we've left the city we can get back to some hair-brained schemes of our own."

Jakov smiled at that, but Will hadn't let up an inch. The hairs on the back of his neck were sticking straight up and he had gooseflesh all over. I felt it when I reached for his arm to get his attention.

"Will, darling?"

"What?" He snapped momentarily, but softened when he realized just how tense he was.

"Can I speak with you? In private?"

He huffed, but complied and followed me to the bathroom. I heard a muffled conversation continuing on between Jakov and Jack and I hoped it was nothing to do with Will's little defensive display.

"What is _going on_ with you?" I asked him the moment we were in a reasonably private spot.

"Nothing." Will attempted.

"I don't believe that for a moment. You are acting very defensive around Gragon. You don't even know him."

"But _you did_... didn't you and him used to be... _together_? I mean you _lived_ together, right?"

I sighed.

"Is that what this is about? You are jealous of our relationship? Will, I assure you, the only thing I feel for Jack is a deeply rooted friendship. That is it."

"So you _were_ together."

"In a way, yes."

Will seemed to shut down, upon hearing that.

"Please don't shut me out." I implored.

"I... I don't know what to think. It's not like you cheated on me or anything but I feel... hurt; jealous of what you and he had."

"There's no need, Will. Honestly... Jack never made me feel as good as you make me feel; our connection _means_ something; in fact it means _everything_ to me."

My Omega nodded, seemingly understanding now.

"Okay but... it doesn't mean I have to like him... right?"

"Right. But give him a chance at least, would you?"

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

Will and Jack sat meters apart for the rest of our time at the hotel, almost refusing to look at each other. Jack was being almost as immature as Will had been. I could tell that Jack was hoping he could pick things up from where they left off before his arrest, once he was finally out of prison. I could only imagine the shock that he received when he realized that I was in a relationship, and _monogamously_ so.

"So Hannibal, what's the plan for tonight? How the hell are we going to get out of the city?" Jakov questioned without reservation.

"We're using the truck. And I'm sorry to say this, but you're not exactly going to like the other passengers..."

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**

The road to the city border was bumpier than most. I cringed as I heard the loud ruckus of bodies, both alive and dead, swishing about in the back of the box truck.  
The trip to the border was short, but tense. I was understandably quite nervous about our plans to cross the border, what with the political unrest and the citywide lockdown.

I had to hope that my rouse would be good enough to get our truck over the border, and straight to freedom.

"Next!" I heard the guard call out while he waved me closer to the barricade. I inched the truck forward, careful not to appear too eager to leave.

"Your business, sir?"

"Just bringing these bodies to the Hensley Lab. I've got my paperwork if you need it..." I pretended to fish around my driver's compartment, looking for a nonexistent bundle of paperwork.

"Shouldn't be necessary." The man sounded bored.

"Just need to run your plate and you should be good to go."

The guard turned away and for a split second I was tempted to just ram through the metal gate. I could do it; the truck would make it without any trouble... But there were at least a dozen armed guards at the gate; we wouldn't make it more than a hundred yards before our tires would be shot to hell, right along with the escape plans.

I watched as the guard stood at his kiosk computer, looking concerned. His facial expression sent off alarm bells in my head, which only rang louder when I saw the guard use his radio, no doubt to alert someone of a problem.  
It took me half a second before I realized: the BCA had reported the truck as stolen already, hours ahead of schedule.

My pulse thudded in my ears while I felt the moment develop in slow motion. The guard was approaching my vehicle, a scowl on his face. But as he approached the truck door, that was when my instincts kicked in. I swiftly swung the door open, hitting him squarely in the face and knocking him down.

Then I slammed the door shut, and the gas pedal down to the floor, causing the truck to instantly roar to life and leap into action.

The deafening screech and squeal of metal bending and breaking was short lived, and quickly replaced by the loud pops of gun fire. The windshield of the truck had a spiderweb pattern stretched along the entire length now, and I was so fixed on driving as fast as I could to really know if it was from a ricocheted bullet, or a result of plowing through the barred gate. We made it about a five hundred yards, miraculously, and I thought that by then we would be in the clear.

But it was then that detrimentally loud noises exploded in my ear drums, and the entire truck cab was suddenly careening quickly towards the ground. It took half a second for me to realize that the front axle had broken - more like _shattered_ \- and that these last four feet it traveled skidding to a stop would be the last of this truck's usefulness.

I flung the driver's side door open and hopped out, knowing that staying would be a death sentence; running, we at least had a chance.

I pounded rapidly on the side of the box truck as I ran to the backside, hoping that I could get my colleagues out before we all got shot.

The roll-up door opened a few feet and suddenly all of my friends were falling out, including Jakov, without his wheelchair. I picked up my crippled friend off of the dusty ground and ran as fast as my feet could carry me.

Darkness was our friend in this situation, as the guards ere surely still scrambling to get their rarely-used spotlight together in order to find us in the pitch black of the night.

I heard shouts, even gunfire, but I just kept running, having faith that Will and Jack were hot on my trail.

I didn't slow down for a second. Not until I found a shell of an abandoned mini van, left long ago and every useful piece scavanged from it. The car still served as a barricade between myself and the guns at the gate, which now sat about two thousand feet away.

"Fuck!" I'd heard Jakov cry out at some point.

"What's wrong?"

"I fucking got _shot_ , that's what's wrong!"

"Where?"

"H-here." Jakov pointed to his right side, where through the darkness I could vaguely see a dark patch of red seeping through his clothes... Now blood was everywhere.

"You got hit too. Looks like the bullet went through you first..."

I stared down at my torso in disbelief and realized that he was right. I was shot. The adrenaline rushing through my veins must have numbed me to the pain thus far.

Blood soaked through my clothes but I ignored it as I tried to place pressure on my friend's chest wound.

I heard a gurgling sound and I realized that the bullet had entered his chest cavity, where his last good lung was.

"Oh fuck, no.. Jesus, Jakov, you can't do this to me." I quickly ripped off my bloody shirt and tried to hold a firmer pressure on the bubbling wound, but I knew this was it; this was the end of the line for my longtime neighbor and friend.

I heard a scuffled of gravel and dirt, and the huge form of an Alpha was suddenly right next to me: Jack. And he was carrying Will, who appeared to be scared, but unharmed.

"You... You take care of that kid, okay?" Jakov gasped, using every ounce of effort he left to talk through the pain and the collapsing lung.

"I will, Jakov. I promise."

His breathing turned suddenly extremely shallow, and he went eerily quiet. I knew he wasn't officially dead yet, but it was over... There was nothing I could do.

Will's arms were around me in an embrace, and I felt him recoil in shock when he felt just how much blood was pouring from my abdomen.

"Hannibal!" Will gasped.

"You're hurt!"

The bullet could have nicked my descending aorta, but I doubted it. I would recover, I was sure of it... As long as I put some pressure on it...

" **OVER HERE**!" A shout pierced the air moments after the sound of distant shots had ceased, and I knew it wasn't the voice of a friendly. A BCA Guard had found us. This was it... It was all over now.. There was no getting out of this. Everything was doomed. I'd failed us all.

That was the last thing I thought before everything went dark.

 **...XoXoXo...XoXoXo...**


	7. Betrayed

The muffled sound of whimpering and cries drew me from my dreamless state of unconsciousness:

 _Will._

"Will?" I tried to speak, but nothing came out, my throat was so dry; my breath seemingly stolen from me as it passed my lips. Struggling to move, I was careful because if memory served correctly, I was still injured. I realized I was on a cot; a springy, cheaply made cot, but it was something. I felt shocked that I wasn't restrained, and I was even more surprised to find myself anywhere other than a cell back at the BCA headquarters.

No, instead the place seemed to be a warehouse; an old one that thanks to the universal shortage of supplies, didn't house much of anything…

"Oh look, he's up."

A voice came from across the room.

My eyes darted to the origin of the voice, only to see a big, burly alpha approaching me. His demeanor was anything but friendly, but he hadn't killed me nor left me for dead up to this point, so I had to have faith that he at least wanted _something_ from me; that he wanted me alive; for _now_.

"Well, well well… If it isn't Hannibal Lecter; we meet again."

His voice sounded familiar; a Cockney accent. I quickly concluded that he was the Alpha that had threatened me on the street the other day.

Some of the pieces were coming together now, but my mind got distracted by the far off sound of whimpering that I was certain now _had_ to be Will.

"What have you done with my mate?" I said in an accusing tone.

"Your _mate_? Now now, I didn't see any _marks_ on him. In fact he doesn't smell like you've claimed him at _all_. What's wrong old man? Couldn't get it up? Or are you too afraid of commitment..."

A sharp pain shot through my side, and I finally looked down at my abdomen to take a look at the damage. Surprisingly, my stomach was wrapped with gauze. The cotton material looked clean and new, but there was a small amount of blood starting to seep through, no doubt caused by my sudden increase in blood pressure and heart rate.

"The girl stitched you up, but you're goin' to be down for the count for a while yet."

My rising frustration with my incapacitating injury caused me to growl out the next question,

"Girl? What girl?"

Not two seconds after I'd asked, a smaller form appeared into my blurry field of vision. But I didn't need a set of working eyes to know who it was. The scent said it all:

"Alana."

"Sorry, no." The girl said in a lofty tone.

"I let you believe I was Alana so you'd think I was a good-guy. Truth is, Alana died; _weeks_ ago. I'm Margot, Alpha Sebastian's _favorite_. I figured when I met you that since you and Will were so closely… _acquainted_ that he would have mentioned me; would have mentioned that I am subservient to our Alphas and that I helped keep him in line whenever he forgot his place."

"His _place_?" I felt woozy, likely from the lack of blood, but I sat up anyway. I was trying to force myself to be strong; to bear the pain and get up; I had to do it, for Will.

"His place here with us; he ran away, of course, because just like Alana, he is weak and dumb and does not understand his role in life." Margot sounded like a truly brainwashed psychopath.

"I need to _see_ him. Please, let me see Will."

"That's not going to happen, Doc." The Alpha, apparently named Sebastian, asserted gravely.

Anger and fear boiled beneath the surface of my skin, but I hid it well. I decided to go with a diversion, in order to allow my anger to dissipate.

"You… you have an inside man, don't you? One of the border guards. That's how I ended up here in your lair instead of in a cell at the bunker."

"Ah, so you do have a brain, at least. Good. The old man was right; maybe we _could_ use you…"

I wasn't sure who he referred to when he said 'the old man,' but I had more important things to worry about.

"You want information on the inner workings of the BCA? Why don't you just ask your inside man, whoever he is?"

"No, not the BCA, who gives a flying fuck about the BCA anymore? They are untrained cowards with guns. I mean the people on the streets."

"Recruits." I made an educated guess.

Sebastian nodded.

"For _what_? Your little breeding club?"

"Hardly." He scoffed.

I didn't exactly have much reason to believe they were running an operation solely bent on breeding, but it was a decent guess; one that I was a little relieved to be wrong about...

"You'd better sit back, Doc, your wound is bleeding again."

I complied, simply because the pain of sitting up was becoming too much. I laid supine on the bed, as that was the least painful position I could find. I felt vulnerable and weak; a feeling I was not used to, being both an Alpha and independent for all this time.

"Look, we're bringin' in the new revolution; the rebellion is back, stronger than ever. And I'm well on my way to rising to the top of the heap."

That comment made me scoff, and I regretted it instantly, because I felt a tight pain in my abdomen; more than just a normal, residual gunshot wound pain; it was the kind of pain that made me think something was truly wrong; like I'd possibly come close to popping a stitch.

"God…." I sighed out of exasperation; I was shaking from how much pain I was in.

"Why… Why am I still alive? What is it you _really_ want from me? Who is this guy you said wanted to use me?"

"There's plenty of time for that, mate..." Sebastian mysteriously left it at that.

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

Margot stayed with me while Sebastian left, she was obviously keeping watch just in case I somehow mustered the strength and wherewithal to get up and attempt an escape. I could already tell that was not going to happen. In fact I was already wondering how on earth I was going to manage taking a piss in a few hours.

"You know I'm not going anywhere." I said to the female Omega, sounding every bit as defeated as I felt.

"I know. I did a shitty job stitching you up to _ensure_ that."

I had to give the girl credit; it was clever, on her part; she probably left the suture strand connected to each knot, so that any movement will pull on the other stitches, causing great pain and threatening to rip right out of my intestinal tissue.

"That was very keen of you… I'm surprised you're still with that _idiot_ , Sebastian. After what he did to you? Leaving you to rot in that cell?"

"What are you talking about? Sebastian didn't know I'd been incarcerated. He thought I was dead."

"If that's the case, he certainly didn't look too broken up about it. I met him out on the streets a couple of days ago. He was more concerned about getting _Will_ back from _me_ than he was about losing you. Seems to me he has a favorite alright… And it's _not_ you."

She seemed a little flustered by my words, but not nearly as shaken as I needed her to be, if I was going to turn her.

"You're lying. Sebastian was worried sick."

"What were you in for, again? Oh yes, that's right; stealing from a pharmacy. I'll bet _he_ sent you on that little suicide mission, didn't he? You're disposable to him, Margot. He doesn't even call you by name, does he? Keeps referring to you as 'the girl.' You mean nothing to him. You're blind if you don't see that."

Margot set her jaw, her buggy eyes turning to slits.

"I see what you're doing. You're trying to turn me against him. Oldest trick in the book, _old man_."

Her words projected one sentiment, while her demeanor projected another: that what I said started to sink in with her; that the seed I'd planted just might take root.

Margot did leave, then, because another figure was walking towards me. My vision had cleared considerably, but I still did a spit take when I realized who it was, looking free as a bird and not under any form of duress.

Jack Crawford.

He sat on the edge of the cot I was laying on, coincidentally in just the right spot so I didn't have to crane my neck to make eye contact with him, given my supine position.

"Hey, sleepy head. Get any rest?"

"I…" I felt confused. Jack looked casual; _relaxed_ , even.

"What's going on, here Jack? I would think they would have you in chains right now. How do they know you won't escape? And where are we exactly? And where's Will?"

Jack frowned a little, no doubt disappointed in my near frantic state, considering how calm I normally was. (Though normally I didn't have a debilitating _bullet hole_ in my gut.)

"It's a long story, Hannibal." Startlingly, I thought I detected a hint of… _shame_ in my friend's tone.

Slowly but surely, the blanks were being filled in. My demeanor turned grave.

"You… you _know_ these guys? These filthy Alphas who _raped_ and _enslaved_ Will?"

"Hann… It's not like that..."

"How could you be associated with _monsters_ like them?"

"They share our same cause, Hannibal. They're part of the rebellion, like us."

"Like _you_ , you mean."

"Like _us_. Come on, you know you believe in the same thing as me; freeing the people; ending the quarantine, taking down our oppressive government."

"Not if it means we work with people who do what _these_ people do. Do you even know what sort of abuse Will suffered under the hands of Sebastian and his underlings? What they're probably doing to him right now?"

Jack put his hand up, indicating that I should lower my volume.

"Will is fine; for now. They haven't laid a finger on him."

"Yet." Anger boiled in my veins, realizing that my friend was no longer the man I thought he was.

"How long have you collaborated with them, huh?" Disgust wrenched at my stomach, making my injury hurt even worse.

"Ever since I was incarcerated. Most of the guards in max security are part of our cause; I was able to get a hold of a computer and work from there. The guards offered to facilitate my escape, but the timing wasn't right. At the time, I was safest in prison, knowing how many enemies I had; if I turned up missing it would have incurred a manhunt, and who knows how many of my operatives would have gotten caught or killed in that time. But now our numbers have exponentially grown. And those pills you slipped me were perfect, because now the paperwork says I'm dead. And we've got BCA witnesses to attest to that. No one is looking for me. But _you_ on the other hand… you're a wanted man."

My heart was pounding like a jackrabbit as I fully realized the grave mistake I'd made, busting my former friend out of prison.

"I should have left you there. I should have left the city with Will and Jakov, and we all would have made it out alive; scot-free."

"It _is_ too bad, about Jakov. He went really slowly. Took forever for his lung to fill with blood, and even longer for him to drown in it. If it means anything to you, I do wish he hadn't been caught in the crossfire of all of this. He didn't deserve to die. He was a good man."

"Was he one of yours?"

"No. Jakov had no idea I was still leading the rebellion from my little cell. I always had a feeling he idolized me, the poor sap. Ironically I think he was a better hacker than me."

"How the mighty fall." I said bitterly.

"Still. You know I can help you, Hannibal. I can make sure Will stays safe here. I can protect him."

"In exchange for what?"

"Your loyalty. To the cause."

"Never."

"Never is a strong word."

"I mean it. I will protect Will myself."

Jack scoffed, but it sounded more like a laugh.

"And how are you going to do that? Are you going to challenge all these Alphas, in your condition?"

"I'll die before I sit by and let Will get hurt again."

"Be careful what you wish for. You might just die anyway. Looks like you're getting worse. I think it's time for you to realize that some things are outside of your control. I know it's not an easy thing for you to surrender. But Will belongs to these Alphas. And like it or not they're going pump him full of pups as soon as his heat rolls around, or maybe before."

This time I couldn't hold back my nausea. I stiffly rolled to my side just in time for a stream of vomit to pour out of my mouth, and splashed onto the floor. I noticed the redness of blood in the puddle, indicating that I was probably still bleeding internally.

"Ah, fuck… I just cleaned that floor." A shout of complaint came from somewhere in the warehouse, though I couldn't tell from whom.

Jack got up and started to leave. He obviously wasn't going to be the one to clean up after me, and I'm sure the acrid smell hit him even before it did me.

"Margot. Clean this shit up."

I made wary eye contact with the scrawny Omega when she eventually arrived at my side again, this time carrying a bucket of soapy water and a rag. She looked reluctant and disgusted, understandably so.

"I'm sorry..." I apologized genuinely.

"It's alright. It's not your fault." She sounded surprisingly gracious.

"I'm going to have to… _use the facilities_ soon, too. I… I don't think I have the strength to get up."

"I've got a bedpan around here somewhere; you can cover up with a sheet if you want."

As if I couldn't get anymore humbled or humiliated…

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

Hours later, I noticed the warehouse becoming darker; the sun was setting. I hadn't heard any distant whimpers from Will in a long time, and I hoped that was a good sign; perhaps he got a chance to rest, wherever he was.

A smaller-build Alpha named Rex made himself known to me, strutting around like a boastful victor, and although he said nothing for a long while, I knew his behavior had something to do with Will.

"What are you so goddamn smug about?" I said long after I'd gotten sick of his silent presence.

"Just thought I'd come check out the man who was too fucking pussy to claim his Omega while he had the chance. You had him for what, a week? I mean you're either the straightest fucking man on earth, or your not even a man at all."

"As if claiming him would have made any difference at all. You Alphas don't care either way; you would still treat him the same; still _rape_ him; wouldn't you?"

"Well now 'rape' makes it sound like he's got any right to say no in the first place. He don't. We _own_ his ass; he's our fuckin' bitch. His mother _sold_ him to us when he was a young pup; six or seven years old I think."

As sick as that thought made me, it didn't surprise me all that much. It was not unheard of for impoverished parents to sell off one of their kids to support the rest of the litter.

"Bought or not, he is still a human being. And… And I need to see him. Please, let me talk to him."

Rex laughed, seemingly because of my pitiful request.

"Yeah sure..." He said sarcastically. "I'll get right on that." He left then, going off to do God knows what. I could only hope that our conversation didn't spark the inspiration to go mess with Will; or worse… to harm him.

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

Margot seemed to have warmed up to me, marginally. She was less guarded around me, and despite what I did, not even twenty-four hours earlier, she gave off the impression that she trusted me; if just a little.

"Margot. I have to know Will's alright. I'm worried sick."

"Yeah? Well Will is the least of your worries right now. You're burning up. I think you might have an infection."

I shook my head stubbornly, at the same time realizing that I was having a difficult time swallowing.

Margot noticed my affliction and she gave me sip of water, most of which ended up spilling because of my inability to sit up.

"At least here Will can be kept _alive_ ; _you_ on the other hand, I can't do much for. I have no meds, and the Alphas would never approve of risking any of us to pinch any for you."

"What about… those duffle bags that were in the box truck? Did the guards confiscate it? Or…." There were some leftover antibiotics in one of those bags; but they were likely gone, now.

"I don't know, but they're not here. Alpha Sebastian was the one who brought you here when Ricktor caught you just outside the border. He didn't bring anything else but you, the Omega, and Alpha Gragon."

"Ricktor. That's the name of the inside man?" I tried to ignore the residual anger I felt when Margot referred to my former friend as "Alpha Gragon," reminding me that they were so well acquainted…

"One of them. Alpha Sebastian has many people who are sympathetic to our cause, even in the BCA."

"Then why haven't you all escaped the city? Surely it can't be that difficult, if you have so many rooting for you."

"We don't have any plans to leave. Alpha Sebastian says that the rebellion is strongest here, where the quarantine is."

"You mean people are more desperate, here; willing to do anything. That's why someone risked their life to assassinate the President. I'll bet your Alpha had something to do with that, no?"

"I don't know anything about that. I just do what I'm told, around here."

I scoffed, and I could tell that my disapproval affected Margot, even a little.

"Look, what did your Alpha do when he found out I'd used you as bait in my little escape plan? You could have been killed, all because of me."

"He… He knew that it was all in an effort to help Alpha Gragon escape. It was… justified."

"You don't sound like you believe that at all." I stated the obvious. "Do you even have an original thought of your own? Or are you just Sebastian's little parrot?"

My words clearly angered Margot, but the emotion seemed to be directed at herself; like there was an internal struggle going on.

"Look.. I can help you get a chance to talk to Will." The internal struggle seemed to have produced some sort of resolution.

"How?"

"The lead Alphas all go out for gambling at night; I'm sure as soon as they're gone I can bring Will here to you. But.. I have to warn you… after they come back, they're usually in the mood to… _you know_..."

My imagination filled in the blanks: they would be in the mood to _fuck_.

"Thank you for your candor. Now how long until these bastards leave?"

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

Seeing Will again made me feel better, almost instantaneously. My fever still raged on and I was sweating bullets, but my pulsing headache cleared up as soon as I smelled Will's intoxicating scent while he ran up to me. He looked worried as he practically flung himself onto the creaky cot with me, paying little attention to my painful wound as he embraced me in desperation.

"I've been so worried about you." I he said exactly what I'd been thinking about him.

"I'm alright, Will." I lied.

"Margot said you're dying. She said unless you get some meds you're going to die of infection."

"It's not as bad as all that."

Margot stood a few feet away, her crossed arms and stare accurately depicting her distaste for my obstinate denial.

"We still have some meds, don't we? From when I was sick? They're in the duffle bags back in the truck!"

"There is no way to get them, now. They're long gone. I'm sure looters combed over the truck the moment we left it."

"What, the truck full of dead bodies? I doubt they went within twenty yards of it. I can only imagine how bad it smells now. I think we have a chance. Margot and I will go get them!"

Will's enthusiasm both lifted my spirits and concerned me. Obviously I didn't want him risking his life for two bottles of pills, and some clothes that smelled like death, but it was one of the only options we had, if I wanted to stay alive longer than a couple of fever-filled days.

And speaking of the fever, I am sure it played a large part influencing my decision, allowing Will to go with Margot, the girl who still had loyalties to her Alphas, out to the border to get the medicine that just might save my life.

 **...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo... ...XoXoXo...**

Hours passed after Margot and Will left. I found out that the warehouse was only two miles from the border gate; they wouldn't have a long walk; why were they _taking_ so long?

I was so worried about them that my stomach pain had increased to an eleven out of ten, instead of the tolerable eight that it had leveled out to earlier.

Luckily the hole in my abdomen was mostly done bleeding. My body was still catching up from the massive fluid loss, but I had confidence that I would be functional in a matter of days… Just as long as I could get rid of this infection…

The loud screech of metal interrupted my thoughts, and for a half a second I felt relieved, but the other half a second filled me with dread.

Through the metal doors came the six Alphas who ran the operation: Sebastian, Rex, Butch, Jack, and two others whose names I had yet to learn.

Dread filled me as I realized that it was only a matter of minutes before they would realize the absence of their favorite fuck toys.

There were other Omegas somewhere in the warehouse, I assumed by the scent of the place, but they obviously were not getting nearly as much attention as the two that were now absent.

One possibly advantageous element was, however, that all of the Alphas, including Jack, were excessively drunk. They spilled into the warehouse one after the other, practically tripping over themselves. One looked like he might throw up. Seconds after I made that observation, he did, right into a waste bin.

"Gabe… Gabriel..." Sebastian all but hiccuped out.

"Go get the boy."

Acid rose in my throat as I watched the subservient Alpha do as he was told. He disappeared around a corner, out of my field of vision, but I didn't need to look to know what he would discover.

"Boss!" Gabriel yelled loudly. He reappeared before relaying the news.

"He's gone!"


End file.
